Bees working Angel Trumpet plants (very poisonous)

[Drone]

Hey Folks,

I have a large Angel Trumpet plant that I have heard is very poisonous. The bees have never paid much attention to it, but today they are working it like crazy!

I'm done pulling any honey for the year, but should I be concerned about them feeding this pollen to their brood?

It looks like they are gathering white pollen; I'm not sure if there is any nectar.

I usually assume that the bees know what's best, but I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks!!

-John

[greg spike]

The poisionous chem.s in Daurtas (and mountain laurel) is a very specific vascular constrictor to humans, tightens capilarys in the skin and brain, causing blood pressure to spike. Also halucenogenic.
Bees don't have much of a vascular system, and brains probably aren't complicated enough to be affected. Never read anything about it being harmfull to bees, but you don't want to risk eating it.

[johnnybigfish]

 My bees love angel trumpets..i got pics of bees getting down in them 4 at a time. The datura subject was posted some time back but I cant remember the details...It seems the most popular opinion was that the honey was safe to eat. Ive been eating the honey they made which included Datura, mesquite, and all kinds of stuff from around here. I suppose that if the datura was the only nectar source it may be dangerous honey for people to eat.

your friend,
john

[dhood]

I don't know alot about poisonous flowers, ect. but I ran across this at the www.scstatebeekeepers.org website. They say that bees can make a poisonous honey...

Special Announcement from the Dept. of Entomology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, North Carolina State University:
    A light-colored, bitter-tasting honey is being made by honey bees, especially in the mountainous regions of western North Carolina and South Carolina, which should not be eaten. It has been speculated that the nectar source of this honey could be mountain laurel, even though bees do not typically forage from that nectar source.

    The issue with mountain laurel honey is that it may contain certain toxins. Mountain laurel and yellow jessamine are two North Carolina flowers that can produce toxic nectar.  Although, it is doubtful that the honey contains enough pure mountain laurel nectar, or that people would consume a large enough quantity of the bad-tasting honey to become sufficiently poisoned, nonetheless, precautions should be taken in case your bees might be making  honey from this source.

    Current recommendations are:

· If the honey tastes bitter, don't eat it or sell it.

· Verify that honey is bitter tasting, as not everyone may be able to taste laurel-tainted honey

· If you keep bees, extract any bitter-tasting honey from the combs before the bees store any additional honey, particularly before the sourwood nectar flow, which has already begun in some areas.

· Save the extracted honey, and give it back to the bees for winter feed.


    A sample of this honey was recently sent to a leading expert of pollen identification in honey, and it was confirmed that the overwhelming majority of the pollen found in the honey sample was laurel, with smaller amounts of other nectars.
    It has been difficult for bees to find adequate forage this year,  because of the Easter freeze and ongoing drought, and because of that, it seems that some bees may be making mountain laurel honey.   
    If you have any questions or concerns, please contact:

Jack Hanel (828-230-4544), Don Hopkins (919-233-8214),

or David Tarpy (919-515-1660).

[johnnybigfish]

 Heres a few bees waiting in line for the flower to open!
your friend,
john
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[reinbeau]

Our bees love the datura (especially in the evening, the blossoms keep them out way past their bedtime!) and our honey is delightful, absolutely no problem.  Then again, they aren't gathering solely from daturas, they've got lots to mix it up with.  I wouldn't worry about it.

[johnnybigfish]

I just went out awhile ago and noticed my datura is on the way out....We had a frost 3 nites ago and that curls the leaves quite a bit.
I have quite a few seed pods that will be ready after they turn brown. You guys let me know if you want any!
your friend,
john

[EasternShore]

Johnny...why would they want it...for their soon to be exwives? JOKE!

[johnnybigfish]

 Not to EAT!!!...To GROW!!! :-D
Oh yeh,...Its the absinthe I got from Checkoslovakia that is the homewrecker!
Many people have gone home from my house after drinking IT and almost had their spouses leave!

your friend,
john

[rast]

Not to EAT!!!...To GROW!!! :-D
Oh yeh,...Its the absinthe I got from Checkoslovakia that is the homewrecker!
Many people have gone home from my house after drinking IT and almost had their spouses leave!

your friend,
john

I don't want any of that. My wife is too good of a cook. Amazing how your priorities change as you age. :-D