# What is this flower bunch in GA



## Bee_Sweet (May 27, 2008)

*Find the Honey Bee*

Here is a closer look into the little yellow flowers of this plant I can not ID.

Can you find the Honey Bee?


http://i535.photobucket.com/albums/ee356/matt_collins_photos/IMG_6153.jpg


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

It looks like one of the "_Sumacs". _I would guess,.Smooth Sumac. The twigs and leafstalks are hairless. The bees like it up here too. http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/bigphoto/RHUGLA_MRB5.jpg http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?SpCode=RHUGLA http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/bigphoto/RHUGLA_MRB4.jpg


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## FishmanMike (Sep 13, 2008)

*plant I.d*

Sumac


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## Bee_Sweet (May 27, 2008)

*Can we eat this honey*

So, can we eat this honey? 

If so, what are its properties (color, taste, quality)?

I have a good bit of black berry honey most of it capped... nice and light...tastes great. Will this sumac blend well if extracted at the same time or should I pull supers off, extract and give back?

One more question, If I pull the supers off, extract, then give them back, most likely they will be filled with sumac and the yummy Sourwood... any idea as to the out come of that mix?

As always thanks...
Matt


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

Like most 'varietal honeys', you would have to have quite a bit of it growing in the vicinity of your hives. I don't have a lot of it here. Yes you can eat it. They say you can eat honey from Poison  sumac .

"Not all honeys are alike. Usually, lighter honeys command higher prices, and most beekeepers try to keep darker honeys from mixing with lighter ones. For example, beekeepers in north Georgia remove supers with dark sumac honey before it can mix with incoming sourwood honey which is lighter." --
http://www.ent.uga.edu/Bees/Get_Started/Honey_Bee_Management.htm
"Sumac [_Rhus glabra_]--New England and southwestward. A surplus in Connecticut; honey bright amber; very heavy but at first has a bitter odor and flavor which disappears as it ripens; waxes [?] instead of granulating. Mountain sumac [_R. coppalina] _yields a surplus in Georgia and Texas." --ABC&XYZ.

Other than that I don't know much else about sumac honey. You can find info. on the internet. Ask around in Georgia.


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## jrhoto (Mar 2, 2009)

*flower bunch*

IT is Sumac and it makes great honey,we have lots of it in southwest Va.
Our sourwood is not as far along as your's is in Georgia.


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## Kurt S (Jul 20, 2007)

Nope. The leaves look like a sumac, but the flowers tell a different story.

It's Ailanthus, aka 'Tree of Heaven'. It is generally considered an aggressive invasive (native to China) in the US and not desirable. 
Not to say it won't make good honey.


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

*"Identification:* Tree of Heaven may be confused with other trees having compound leaves and many leaflets. Black walnut (_Juglans *****_), butternut (_Juglans cinerea_), and some species of sumac (_Rhus_ spp.) fit this description. The leaf margins of the look-alikes have small teeth, with the exception of winged sumac, while those of Tree of Heaven are smooth. Tree of Heaven also possesses a characteristic odor that can be produced by scraping its bark or crushing its foliage. The odor is sometimes compared to the odor of peanuts or cashews." 
http://www.peconicestuary.org/InvAilanthus.html
The leaflets [photo] look serrate [slightly] or toothed to me.

Why do the flowers "tell a different story"? Flowers of Tree of heaven >> http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/a/aial--fl11105.htm ...http://www.invasive.org/images/768x512/5269087.jpg

Sumac flowers >> http://www.invasive.org/images/768x512/1208069.jpg ++http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/image/r/rhgl--flclose12567.htm


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

From oldbee's post, I'd say the flowers indicate sumac.

They say you can make a sumac ice tea (NOT with poison sumac)... supposedly tangy, like tea with lemon... so I would assume the honey to be edible.


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

From oldbee's post, I'd say the flowers indicate sumac.

They say you can make a sumac ice tea (NOT with poison sumac)... supposedly tangy, like tea with lemon... so I would assume the honey to be edible.


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## ga.beeman (Mar 29, 2009)

Sumac is what it is and it is blooming right now in NW Ga. it makes a very good honey it will be a little dark but great taste. Good Luck David www.johnstonshoneyfarm.com


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## Kurt S (Jul 20, 2007)

I thought the flower stalk looks too open for a sumac. 
Here's some pics of sumac flowers: http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=sumac+flower&aq=f&oq=
And of Ailanthus: http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&sa=1&q=Ailanthus+flower&btnG=Search+images&aq=f&oq=

But I agree, the leaves look like a sumac. 
Hence, I retract my statement. 
Very easy to tell the difference in person, but much harder from pics! Sorry!


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