Before we started our journey into beekeeping, I had a deep love for Tupelo honey. I could almost never find any and if I happened to, I would buy what I could. Fast forward to our very first year with bees... I was doing research into what blooms were good for bees, how to identify them, and where they grow. I also spoke with a local beekeeper about local blooms. She would also tell me stories of the extremes some beekeepers would go to just to harvest Tupelo honey. My favorite story was of beekeepers building floating docks and would set them down rivers.
Once I heard the stories, I immediately started my research into Tupelo honey, trees and the blooms. I then realized just how difficult it was for tupelo honey to get harvested. The tupelo trees only grow in the South Eastern parts of the United States. They grow in the wetlands of swamps, creeks, and rivers and seem to thrive best in these warm and wet conditions.
I showed my husband, Danny, pictures of the tree and its blooms in hopes that he had seen them. Sure enough, he had and they were in the very place we liked to keep our bees. We then spent a lot of time in the swamps of our property identifying Tupelo trees and making mental notes of how many and where they were.
We found out that we had a lot, but not just our property but all across McIntosh County, GA. We would take our boat out on the river and would find tupelo trees hanging across the river and up in the creeks. By this time, the trees were full of leaves and blooms but the blooms had started to fall.
The following year we were determined to make it in time to have our bees harvest from the Tupelo trees. We waited and watched for the blooms. Once they arrived we moved the bees into that area and we waited again. About two weeks later there were no blooms and the bees were off to the abundant gallberries blooming. We pulled what we could but there really wasn't much and we didn't know how to tell were tupelo ended and gallberry began.
It was back to researching. I then discovered the real magic of tupelo. One of the most mesmerizing clues to Tupelo honey was the beautiful lime green hue that reflected when it is lifted to the sun. It was something so captivating that it became a go to when I wanted to identify tupelo honey.
Tupelo honey was my next years missions. We found a good time frame and for the next couple of years we were able to harvest a small batch of Tupelo Honey.
I knew early this year that I wanted to make Tupelo my top priority. The small batches of previous years were sold out in a blink and I would have customers, family, and friends asking when I would be able to get more. I would have them ask to be the first to know of any upcoming inventory. Around the end of February and beginning of March we started our big moves. For about three weeks we planned, organized, and executed the relocation of 10 total hives from three of our locations to McIntosh.
Every Sunday we visited our hives, checking for everything and anything. How was the honeycomb looking? Was the queen laying eggs? Did they have enough sugar-water to help them build until Tupelo came.
-Tupelo blooms from March until April but the actual blooms can only last a week or two. Most of it being very dependent on weather. They need the swamps to be filled with water.
The end of April came and we saw the first signs of Tupelo blooming. This excitement was short lived when just days later we witnessed the blooms falling to the ground. The swamps were dry, so dry the ground appeared to be cracking.
That following weekend we were hit with a rainstorm that seemed to never end. It rained for that entire weekend and into the following week. When the skies cleared, we gathered our tools and headed out for a hive check. We were greeted by the Tupelos that grows in the swamp at the front of our property. By our amazement, the rain overflowed our swamps and the Tupelo trees sparkled in blooms. For as far as we could see, there were tupelo trees blooming across our swamps.
We couldn't believe that the rain had caused the tupelo to re-bloom. This was the first time we witness this happen. We powered through our hive checks and noted the tupelo honey already being stored. We added a little extra space for honey storage and then we began the wait into the next week.
By the time of our next visit, we were hopeful to see a few frames of honey ready. This time, along with our usual tools, we brought with us a few extra frames and a few storage totes that we use for transporting frames of honey. Our very first hive brought excitement and disbelief. This massive hive of three honey supers were filled to the top with honey. Not just filled and needing a little more time or filled but they had some room still. NO, this hive was SLAMMED. Every frame in every box was full, capped, and 100% ready to be pulled.
We worked diligently to pull what we could from that hive and then moved onto the next hive for its check. As soon as the second hive was opened I knew what I was in store for; another full hive! We had no more room to bring anymore frames of honey back. Each box we opened, sure enough there was some frames ready. Not all were like the first two but all were getting close to full otherwise.
That night I stayed up decapping, extracting, and storing the honey we did bring home. Once I accomplished this, I repacked my truck with everything necessary to conduct a bigger honey pull. The next day came and I was ready to begin. We pulled every frame that was ready for us and again that night I began to decap, extract, and store.
-When we extract honey we have to store the honey in five gallon buckets and we place them into our big heater "cooler". They then have to sit for a few days to allow the air bubbles to rise and settle after being spun.
After my few days were up I jumped to action bottling up every drop of it. That very first bottle I held to the light and confirmed I had Tupelo by the lime green glow. My daughter, Dixie, and myself proceeded to bottle a total of 114 bottles, each 1 pound.
Our next hive check was almost as good with multiple hives presenting frames of honey ready for harvest. We were still so overwhelmed by the amount of tupelo prior to this that we did not even think to check our Tupelo trees until the very end. The blooms were falling. As fast as they appeared they were gone just like that. In two days time, every bloom on every tree had vanished and the time of Tupelo with it.
As sad as I wanted to be, I am thankful beyond measure for the rain bringing life back to the Tupelo trees. This year would've given us no tupelo otherwise. Instead, we managed to bring in the largest Tupelo Honey harvest and honey harvest in general for ourselves. Our hard-work and diligence paid off and although the blooms are gone, the bees are still finishing up the last of Tupelo as I type this. This is not the end of our honey flow this year either, this was just the beginning...
