I say unusual because I have never seen it before. This was a VERY large tree in a small woods reserve area in central Illinois, and it was almost carpeted with tiny white flowers, extremely fragrant. It was also covered in honeybees, they were everywhere....all the way up as far as we could see. I had never seen so many. We asked an elderly employee at the park what kind of tree it was, and he said he thought it was White Mulberry- however when I looked this tree up online it said that was a small, short lived tree and the flowers looked different. This was definitely a very large, stately looking tree that appeared to be 50 years old or more. The reason I ask is, Monsanto's Roundup as well as systemic neonicotinoids have been killing our honeybees in large numbers in the past years, which is a very worrisome development. The idea we'd like to suggest is to plant flowering trees like these along highways to help lure the bees off the crops, which are showing to be toxic to them. We don't have any ability to do this ourselves, but would like to put it forward to people who can as highway tree plantings happen regularly.... the additional cost of one kind of tree over another would be we think negligible. Feel free to weigh in on the idea if you like, or share with others. Harvard Study on Bees http://www.collective-evolution.com...udy-proves-why-the-bees-are-all-disappearing/
That appears to be a Linden or 'lime tree' then, I think. Is there any way to tell what kind specifically it is? thanks!
Yes, could very well be Tilia americana, which is native to Illinois. Proceed with caution re: By concentrating the bees in small areas, they become very susceptible to (yet more) pesticides, see: Pesticide Causes Massive Bumble Bee Massacre and Bumble Bee Kills: Negligence Proven, Fines Inadequate My advice: contact and work with The Xerces Society to determine what would work best for your local area. They have a Bring Back the Pollinators campaign.
Well so far the suggestion has been largely ignored, and it probably will be... however the idea was mostly to provide a food source for the bees that isn't toxic. We would have to assume if there were stretches of these trees along the highways they would somewhat be concentrating the bees, and its possible someone (we assume a Monsanto truck.....) could drive by at night and spray pesticides all the way down the road. However, they're already spraying pesticides on the crops now, and that's a given. So I guess an unpoisoned food source and a risk, is better than a poisoned food source, no? At what point do you totally give up faith in humanity. Sounds like a great tree to plant if you care about saving honeybees. I have read that the honey they produce off these flowers is also especially good- it gives it a spicy taste. Thanks all for the responses.
I suppose my thought (which I didn't explain well at all) was more that a diverse landscape with an array of nectar/pollen sources available over an extended period of time would be more resilient to harm than a single-species mass planting. I also don't know if a highway corridor is ideal - what does the research say about the height that the insects fly? I remember once driving through the Palouse area where bee hives were on the opposite side of the highway from the crop they were pollinating. It sounded like popcorn on the windshield. You're enthusiasm is great -- there need to be more people like you doing this kind of advocacy. I think you'd find a welcome home in the Xerces Society, and I'll wager that others involved have already researched what is best for similar situations.
