It seems that every year the Lord has plenty of new things to teach me about beekeeping. This year it has been so dry that I could not see how anything could be putting out nectar. No nectar is bad news for bees. Scouting around the hills three weeks ago I noticed honeybees working all over some plants similar to Milkweed with white flowers. Back at the house I identified it as Dogbane or “Indian Hemp” (Apocynum cannabinum). It is an unattractive weed. It is not a very good food source for wildlife. In fact, large amounts can be poisonous to sheep and cattle. It is not even an important honey plant . . . except in dry years. It is still dry now, nearly a month later, and Dogbane is still blooming like crazy and the bees are still all over it. It makes an excellent, light colored honey. Although I do not think we will be harvesting pure Dogbane honey, it has kept the bees going so that we could harvest the honey from the May “flow”.

It surprises me how many plants are valuable to bees even though they hold very little use from other perspectives. Sourwood trees, for instance, hold no value as a timber tree. Nor are they a significant food source for wildlife. Yet they reliably makes one of the best kinds of honey in flavor and color that reportedly does not granulate.