Well, my black locusts (in northern Rennselaer County, NY near the VT border) are blooming their fool hearts out this year. My house and apiary are smack in the middle of about 4 acres of locust which is literally white with blooms.
It's warm (80+ F), rain free, and almost calm winds, or at most gentle breezes.
The whole area is vibrating with the buzz on insects working on those blossoms. Hundreds and hundreds of bumbles (of three different sizes and patterns). Lots of varieties ofother kinds of bees, flies, butterflies, moths are up in the trees. (Along with several species of bug-eating birds who are having a fine time of it, too.0
But to my surprise, my honey bees aren't working the locusts at all. At first I just assumed that they were up there, but I wasn't seeing them. But when I looked carefully, I saw none. So I got the binoculars (many of my trees are three stories tall). Nope, no honey bees. Next I dug out the spotting telescope and looked for a couple of hours yesterday and still no bees among the many bugs on the flowers. Then I put on my tree climbing gear and got my head right up among the flowers. No bees seen on the fully open racemes of flowers high in the trees, which was exactly the same as what I'd seen on lower branches when standing on the ground.
I am completely perplexed by this because I have assumed for ages that black locusts were a really big deal for bees. If I take the fresh flowers and suck hard on them I can get a tiny, perceptible jot of nectar that tastes sweet to me. Obviously there are many bees and insects getting some nectar from these flowers or there wouldn't be this deep buzz overhead. Is there a physiological mismatch between these locusts (at least with the phenotype on my farm) and my honey bees' proboscises? (My bees are all of unknown, mutt origin from local swarms.) I don't recall them working the locusts last year, either, in the few days after they arrived and before they were cut out of the barn walls. (But I was too-new a beekeeper at that point to realize the significance of that.)
Perhaps Black Locust (Robinnia pseudoacacia) which is not native to the north country - though widely naturalized - has some sub-types which combine the ability to survive and prosper out of its original range but have a slight physical difference in flower shape that makes them unuseable to honey bees, or at least my honey bees? Yet, just yesterday I was asking local beekeepers about black locusts and was told that they are super nectary plants. I wonder, though, if they like I have always just assumed the buzz overhead was from honeybees, when it is actually from non-honeybees?
Or maybe there's something unusual about the locusts' nectar this year. It's a very interesting question.
Luckily my bees are finding forage elsewhere as they are hauling pollen (and presumably nectar) in by the boatload.
I suppose the good news is that at least in my area, bumble bees appear to be holding their own population-wise.
Enj.
