There is a man that lives near my hives with lots of Azeleas. Will my bees flock to the blooms in springs?
Lots of azaleas around me and I don't think I've seen anything but large bumble/carpenter type bees on them. Also, pretty sure that azaleas when foraged on produce a toxic and psychoactive honey. Rodadendron(spelling?) honey is also, they are closely related. Check out the hallucinogenic honey hunters vid on YouTube.
Also should have asked where you live. Honeybees in your area may love azaleas! It's a good idea to add your location to your profile, all beekeeping is local!
Yeah the dangerous honey is what I am afraid of. I am around Montgomery Alabama. I might just not put on a super until the azelas have stopped blooming to fix that problem. They are old and not encore Azeleas
I have an encore azalea in a large pot right by my back door and have never seen a bee on it, though they constantly go to a bird bath 10 feet away for water. I wouldn't worry about it.
Don't fret, Azalea's are not worked by honey bees. It is the cousin of the azalea that is bad. Mountain Laurel d2
Quote from: don2 on March 19, 2016, 11:41:25 PM
Don't fret, Azalea's are not worked by honey bees. It is the cousin of the azalea that is bad. Mountain Laurel d2
Scared me with that one. I posted in another string that my bees are all over a neighbor's Texas Mountain Laurel. Checked and it's a totally different genus. (whew!)
That is good. I was starting to think that I might not even try for Spring honey for this reason.
Never see bees on ours... and yes it is a certain rhododendron that produces the toxic honey which by the way fetches a nice price I believe in Turkey.