The Bee Bee Tree

Mr Kafui Kwesi Appiah of Honey for Wealth Beekeepers Association wrote to Bees for development asking for help to identify a tree which he had noticed as a popular bee tree flowering in Kete Krachi, Ghana. Our first thought was that the tree might be the exotic Tatradium daniellici. However after consulting colleagues at Oregon State University we now suggest the tree is Quassia undulata, indigenous to Ghana.

This enquiry introduced us to Tatradium daniellici, whose popular name is the Bee Bee Tree, indigenous to Korea. With the 44th Apimondia Congress taking place this month in South Korea it seems fitting to feature this ‘Korean Bee Tree’.

Photo © commons.wikimedia

TREES BEES USE

Tetradium daniellii

Apicultural value

Tetradium daniellii produces masses of flat white flower clusters that are extremely attractive to honey bees and other pollinators. When the plants are in flower large numbers of bees can be seen (and heard) visiting the flowers. In North America the tree is valuable for beekeepers because it flowers prolifically from mid-July to mid-August, when little else is blooming.

Family

Tetradium is a genus of nine species of trees in the family Rutaceae, the same family as Citrus sp.

Distribution

Tetradium daniellii is endemic to Yunnan Province - China, North and South Korea and Tibet. It is planted as an amenity tree outside its natural range.

Description

A deciduous tree 8–12 m tall, with a similar spread of the crown.

Leaves up to 40 cm long, composed of 11 ovate leaflets that turn yellow in autumn. Clusters of small, aromatic white flowers in late summer may be followed by clusters of red fruit. The bark is smooth and grey to black. Tetradium daniellii spreads by copious seed production: birds eat the fruits and disperse seeds to new locations.

References

HONEYBEESUITE Honey bee forage: bee bee tree [Online] Available from http://www.honeybeesuite. com/honey-bee-forage-bee-bee-tree/ [Accessed 13 August 2015]

RHS Tetradium danielli [Online] Available from https://www.rhs.org.uk /Plants/19630/i-Tetradium-daniellii-i/Details [Accessed 13 August 2015]