I just helped this old-timer re-establish a hive (he quit years ago due to mite arrival, SHB and health) over at his house. He's got a pretty strong hive going and we were watching it and shootin' da breeze. His hive already has one medium super full of honey. He's also a gardener and his wife does roses. Their backyard is in full bloom, but they didn't notice many bees. I said we should take a walk and look around. Along the side of his house he's got a HUGE red bottle brush stand that was just buzzin'.
He then points out a large swamp maple in the neighbor's yard since we were discussing early build-up forage and what not. I then glance over at the large, mature tree next to it.....then he asks, "Oh, BTW, what kind of tree is that?" and points to the tree I'm looking at as my mouth is dropping... :shock:...yep, big, beautiful tallow tree. I explained the whole tallow tree thing to him and then he proceeds to show me another 3 of them within a 20 yard walk of the hive. All I had to say to him was that he'd better get his next super ready (he's only got one more since he's just getting going again) and to get his extractor all cleaned up (it's in his attic) because he's going to need it.
The tallow trees we looked at were just getting ready. It looked like there was an odd bee or two scouting the blooms, but no real activity. They looked to be, at most, a week away from popping. The Old Boy should have a great first year "welcome back" to beekeeping honey yield.