Botanists, Horticulturists and Silviculturalists your input is requested.

[David McLeod]

I have been doing some research on various honey plants of Georgia and the locations that they are found. In doing so I have observed some things that raise some questions. Specifically what goes into whether one species in one locale will produce better or worse than the same species in another locale.

Now I know the whole soil, moisture, microclimate thing that affects all plants but for instance let's take sourwood. Sourwood grows over most of the state yet only the north Georgia mountains are known for consistant enough opportunity for a flow that beeks will haul their bees to the mountains.

Another is tupelo, particularly ogechee or white tupelo. According to most sources the very best and purest flows come only from the Apalachicola river system even though Nyssa ogeche occurs in other areas and river systems.

So what specifically makes certain locales better for a given species. Specifically on sourwood I am also interested in elevation differences as well.

[Finski]

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I do not know aboutthose plants. Here fireweed/willow herb is very important.

After years it revieled out that sand soils gives not much nectar.
But I was astonished that moist turf soil did not give nectar either. Lack of nutritients or what?
One hive on 10 hectar pastures and nothing.
Clay soil gives well nectar. Ph is about 6-6,5. In acid soils ph is 4.


About phacelia beekeepers say that field must be well fertilized if you are going to get nectar.

 
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[David McLeod]

The reason I ask is that as the son of a cattleman I learned early on that the best cattlemen are actually grass farmers. Good pasture cures alot of ills when raising beef. The same can be said of bees but unlike a cattleman I doubt many of us have thousands of acres behind fence and cultivated for our bees.
Can anyone point me in the direction of studies or scientific literature that can help me. I know the usual lists of nectar plants but what I am trying to ferret out is the specific locales and microclimates, in wine making it would be the terroir, that make it worthwhile to haul hives to.

[BlueBee]

I should probably just keep my trap shut since I’m not any of the above.  However, from the best I can ascertain, the answer to your question is: that’s the way God designed the plant, or if you prefer, the way it evolved. 

Most trees will grow over a particular geographic area, but will thrive more in one area of that region than the rest.  A thriving plant is converting sunlight and CO2 to sugars faster than a sickly one.  Some trees thrive in cooler wetter conditions, some in warmer areas, some in clay, some in sand, some in low PH, some near neutral.   

There is a bible (of sort) about trees written by a guy now at UofG; Michael Dirr that most nurserymen reference when wondering the culture of any tree in North America.  It’s called “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants”.  The thing is over 1100 pages long and contains a wealth of info about nearly all the trees that live in North America.  He often states the conditions a given species prefers, or thrives in, but don’t say WHY.  I think the WHY is a function of the genetic code.

Dirr says Sourwood prefer acid, peaty, well drained soils.

[BlueBee]

In my part of MI, we have clay soil and a PH of about 6.5.  Sourwood does not thrive here.

I've tried and failed :(

[David McLeod]

Thanks, Bluebee, I'll look that one up.

[BlueBee]

I kind of doubt Dirr's book is going to give you the amount of detail you're looking for, but it does give people an indication or where a given tree is probably going to thrive and where it probably won't.  The book covers all the species of trees and the numerous cultivars sold in the landscaping trade.  There is a ton of data, but the depth is not real deep on any particular item.  I can't recall what I paid for the book (amazon), but being 1100+ pages it was probably a few dollars.  I would try to check it out at your local library to see if it contains the kind of info you're looking for.  There are also lots of college texts out there about plant physiology but they don't cover specific species.

Up here white birch trees thrive in our cool climate whereas the same tree would croak in Ga.  On the other hand Ilex/Holley really thrives in the low pH acid soils of the south and usually croaks up here.  Oddly the west coast of MI is a huge blueberry producer which generally need low ph to thrive.  They have sandy soil over there and maybe that helps keep the ph lower.