# Does Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) make good honey?



## Tenbears

Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) Is often referred to as Black Tupelo. Although slightly distinctive I find it's honey to be light in color and pleasant. I do not feel it will damage your current honey profile. Actually In northern Va. I would not be surprised if BlackGum is not already a part of your homey.


----------



## enjambres

They are slow to flower, so you won't need to worry about it for awhile. I am planting some, too. If you want to beef up your forage, maybe identify what your bees are presently foraging on and plant more of those. 

Black gums are beautiful to look at, however, so they make excellent accent trees. A line of them, or a grove would be stunning.

In Loudon County you should have a rich choice of nectar producing trees and shrubs to choose from. I had a farm in Rappahannock County and I truly miss some of those trees up here in northern NY. I brought tulips, sassafras, persimmons up with me. 

Peter Lindtner's Book _Garden Plants for Honey Bees_ is a good reference. And he is located in the mid-Atlantic, too, so his blooming timetables will be more accurate for you than for me.

Enj.


----------



## Scott W

Tenbears said:


> Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) Is often referred to as Black Tupelo. Although slightly distinctive I find it's honey to be light in color and pleasant. I do not feel it will damage your current honey profile. Actually In northern Va. I would not be surprised if BlackGum is not already a part of your homey.


Thanks! I feel much better about it now. There are 2 large trees very near already--which I noticed one fall while gawking at their beautiful foliage. I'm going to watch and see if my bees actually go over there. I'm not sure exactly when they bloom, but it may be around the same time as the black locust.


----------



## Scott W

Enj--
Can you tell how persimmon honey tastes? I have a couple on my property but I have been planting or transplanting a bunch more-primarily for honey production but I also love eating the fruit! Can you tell what sassafras honey tastes like? I'm also trying to propagate more of them around my property. Thanks!


----------



## ruthiesbees

I have a black gum in my yard and the bees make phenomenal honey off of it.


----------



## Scott W

ruthiesbees said:


> I have a black gum in my yard and the bees make phenomenal honey off of it.


Ruth--Thanks! Two follow up questions, if I'm not wearing you out. 1. What would you say the honey tastes like and its color? 2. You live within the natural range of Nyssa aquatica--which makes the famous tupelo honey well known from the north Florida swamps. Are you sure that the tree growing in your yard is actually a N. sylvatica and not a N. aquatica? Sylvatica has fruit about 3/8" long; aquatica fruit is larger, about an inch. Thanks!


----------



## ruthiesbees

Scott W said:


> Ruth--Thanks! Two follow up questions, if I'm not wearing you out. 1. What would you say the honey tastes like and its color? 2. You live within the natural range of Nyssa aquatica--which makes the famous tupelo honey well known from the north Florida swamps. Are you sure that the tree growing in your yard is actually a N. sylvatica and not a N. aquatica? Sylvatica has fruit about 3/8" long; aquatica fruit is larger, about an inch. Thanks!


Nyssa sylvatica only fruits if you have male and female trees present. I planted the tree myself 15 years ago from a named cultivar nursery stock, so I am 100% positive that it is a Black Gum. Alas, it is also the male one, so I never get fruit (I had originally planted it for the birds). 

Here is a link to the photo on my FB page from some years back. It is a light color, mild flavor, and doesn't crystalize https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152463526383048&set=a.399156413047.177751.673973047&type=3&theater


----------



## AmericasBeekeeper

Welcome Scott!


----------



## Scott W

Thanks SO much! I ordered 20 black gum seedlings from this site for about $3.50 each https://www.nativnurseries.com/ I would love to not only ramp up my honey production and help some struggling songbird species, but also give black gums a fighting chance to re-establish locally despite heavy deer predation. I will put wire cages around all the seedlings.


----------

