# Ohio Buckeye toxic?



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have never heard this. Only California buckeye (Aesculus californica) has a reputation for being toxic to bees. Not regular buckey (Aesculus glabra).

"California Buckeyes Horticulture/Aesculus californica are known to cause poisoning of honeybees from toxic nectar (other locally native bee species not being affected). Other buckeye species are thought to have the same effect, but the toxins are diluted because the trees are not usually abundant enough in any one area."-- http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Horticulture/Aesculus


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## Beardedbee1 (Feb 10, 2015)

Just read in the book " bees are my business" by Harry j whitcombe page 155 where he lost many hives in the Sierras due to bears and buckeye posioning. Looked in the abcxyz book and I do see the California buckeye as posion but didn't see the Ohio. Here in Georgia we were always taught not to eat buckeyes that grow here due to being posion but I never took a chance to find out


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## PicnicCreek (Feb 22, 2015)

California Buckeyes are evil. They seduce you in early spring by being the first to leaf out ("Oh so pretty!"), quickly followed by lots of pollen in the air as they bloom (if you have allergies, this is unacceptable), spend the summer dropping toxic buckeyes that reseed like rabbits, and then go brown before the other trees even think about it ("Did you know your tree is dying?" ... "No, it's just a buckeye.")

I looked and looked for some redeeming quality. I can't find a single purpose for this native tree - no animal will eat the buckeye nut, most avoid the blossoms. There is one butterfly that does well with the buckeyes, but it is not their only choice. So I've spent the last two years eradicating those *trees* from my property & dormant buckeyes keep sprouting. But I think I'm winning. So far my hives are thriving, even though the neighbors have plenty of buckeyes on their property.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Lots of Ohio and Yellow Buckeyes around me. Bees work the Yellow Buckeye heavily. I've not noticed any harm.


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## gjt (Jul 24, 2014)

You _can _eat them after processing. You have to remove the outer shell, grind them, put it through a leaching process, and then cook it. Native Americans ate it. It has saponins and some alkaloids which can be used for medicinal purposes. The tannic acid from buckeyes can be used for leather prep.


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