top 20 deadliest plants

[ScottT]

I found this link to an interesting list of plantsTHIS LINK What peeked my interest is that some of the flowers listed have poisonous sap and cause brood death.

[octagon]

nothing comes up un my screen

[DaveKow]

Very interesting.  Thanks.

[Shawn]

Yea I dont see anything either.

[Jerrymac]

This is the link
http://www.purpleslinky.com/Trivia/Science/Deadliest-Plants-in-the-Planet.145297

[Shawn]

Interesting! I planted Floxglove for the bees last year but they did not come back. I guess I wont be planting them anymore! I think the only other plant I have is the larkspur but not sure if it is going to come up.

[eri]

Foxglove is biennial. If it was healthy it should come back next year. If you plant more this year, then you will have some every year.

[2-Wheeler]

Interesting. So is there some implication that pollen or nectar taken from any of these plants by bees could be harmful when used in their honey?

[SgtMaj]

My foxglove is dying... I think I put it in a bad spot.

Incidentally... I thought this was funny... the symptoms of foxglove:

Early symptoms of ingestion include nausea, vomiting, anorexia (So, It'll make me want to excercise??), diarrhea, abdominal pain, wild hallucinations (What if the hallucinations aren't very wild?), delirium, and severe headache.

[Shawn]

I think maybe this topic should be in the gardening section but here it goes. The floxglove I planted was planted late in the year and it was way too hott to be planing anything. It died out and most of the other plants that I planted grew large enough they took their spots. I am trying to design my yard so the bees can benefit and I also have a yard that I can rely on for myself, edible plants and fruits.

[SgtMaj]

I think maybe this topic should be in the gardening section but here it goes. The floxglove I planted was planted late in the year and it was way too hott to be planing anything. It died out and most of the other plants that I planted grew large enough they took their spots. I am trying to design my yard so the bees can benefit and I also have a yard that I can rely on for myself, edible plants and fruits.

You sound just like me... are you sure you're not an alternate personality of mine?

[ScottT]

Interesting. So is there some implication that pollen or nectar taken from any of these plants by bees could be harmful when used in their honey?

Thats what I was thinking. Pollen and nectar from these plants make poisonous honey. You'd think if that was the case the bees would die from it when carrying it back to the hive.
Unless they just naturally avoid these plants.

[Jessaboo]

An interesting article but, in my opinion, a bit misleading.

At least half of the plants listed have medicinal qualities when processed to some extent. A few are traditional AmeriIndian medicinal plants. Yes, they are poison but they are useful poisons when taken in the right amounts and context.

Most are only poison if you smoke or eat them. I am not convinced the nectar and/or pollen would cause the same problems.

Datura/jimsonweed only blooms at night so it would be unlikely that bees would use it. It has been used historically as a shamanic drug although when I did my time as a psychiatric screener I did see it do some nasty things to kids who smoked it or drank it as a tea. It is one of my favorite plants though because it has such a beautiful bloom and fragrance and its night blooms are really lovely near a doorway so they can greet you when you come home late. Moths love it.

Yew barely blooms.

I grow foxglove, larkspur, privet, datura, hyacinth and yew. I can't recall ever seeing honeybees on any of them. I have seen a few bumbles on the larkspur but not many and not for long. They much prefer the milkweed, scabiosa and violas.

Anyway, my two cents!

[eri]

Potatoes are poisonous, too! Here is a link to a more comprehensive and informative list. Good to know.

http://home.okstate.edu/tools/webtools.nsf/Images/hortext/$FILE/poisonousplants.pdf

But as far as I know the only poison honey causing problems today (as recently as this spring http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4470623a6479.html) is found in New Zealand:

http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/animalproducts/publications/info-pamphlet/bee-products/toxic-honey.htm

Toxic honey is produced as a result of bees feeding on tutu (Coriaria arborea) bushes. Tutu is a widely distributed native species found throughout New Zealand, particularly along stream banks and in regenerating native bush. The poison comes from the native tutu bush but Toxic honey is not produced by bees visiting the flowers of tutu to gather nectar or pollen, but rather when bees gather honeydew produced by the sap sucking vine hopper insect (Scolypopa sp) feeding on tutu plants.

[AndersMNelson]

Don't forget about Rhododendron honey.  :shock:

[Sean Kelly]

Don't forget about Rhododendron honey.  :shock:

Yeah, but it's not a problem.  Rhodies are native to Washington State and grow like weeds here and I've never heard of anyone getting sick.  My bees don't even touch my Rhodies.  Don't see why they would when there's better stuff all around they can get.  Maybe if there was a huge field of nothing but rhodies and the hives were planted in the middle, then you might have a problem.  Look up Poison Honey in ABC & XYZ's of Bee Culture.  Says there hasn't been any real cases of poison honey in the US and that it's nothing to worry about.

Sean Kelly