There is an extraordinary relationship between farmers and trees. Farmers understand their trees by simply observing them as they nourish and irrigate their land and plants. It is in the way farmers watch how the trees grow, as fresh leaves appear, as the bloom gradually evolves, and as the flowers flourish.

Beekeeper’s livelihood depends on their capability of tree reading combined with all the knowledge they have accumulated and processed over the years. However, knowledge about the evolutionary trees is considered a top-secret for beekeepers. Therefore, they will never share the information they have gathered about trees and honey with others. Well, at least not accurately…  which means you will always have to do your research about the trees.

Let’s dig a little deeper into what Tree Reading means. Tree reading in the forest is about trying to understand when the trees will flower, will it have any nectar or pollen or possibly both, and any other information that may be useful to us as beekeepers. Amazingly, trees know all about drought cycles. This is because they have a very long memory, and they can analyse the ‘power of light’. They feel the power of the sunlight and can react to it.

We expect trees to flower every year because our thinking is around the annual cycle in nature. But in reality, some of the trees rest every second year, while some create different flowering cycles. Some trees will flower and regrow at the same time, and some will put more energy and resources into leaf growth rather than for nectar production. Trees have the autonomy to choose their time to bloom or flower. Sometimes, it could happen out of season, sometimes at the wrong time within the season, and in some cases, they would skip a season altogether.

I had seen trees blooming in drought areas weeks before the flood arrived, sometimes in a very small and isolated area. In those areas that were eventually flooded, the trees just “knew” it was going to rain soon and produced new leaves as if it already rained to enable themselves to pump water up when the rain came. Other trees outside the flood areas did not bloom since they knew it would not rain for them. This is an astonishing behaviour we humans refer to as “predicting the future”.

In the beekeeper world, we utilise a lot of knowledge and experience, sometimes with a bit of luck, to be able to spot the right flower in the right location, with plenty of nectar flowing out. Hunting flowers is about knowing where they are located, estimating the time they will flourish, and picking the right patch to get honey accumulated by the bees. Beekeepers will often travel to the flowers, verify they have enough nectar, and bring their beehives to the site to collect pure honey. This process happens all year round, including the slow winter season and even in the coldest areas. Experienced beekeepers will always find flowers that will provide nectar throughout the year, enough to create modest crops of honey during winter and much more during spring and summer.

Chasing flowers and reading trees is a fascinating topic and a “way of life”, but only very few beekeepers have a fundamental understanding of the trees.

Dolfi Benesh

Every tree that produces nectar from its flowers is a significant contributor to the honey-making process. In addition, trees can give farmers the most valuable piece of knowledge: how to treat the soil properly to make a living out of it, without damaging the ground or the trees themselves in the long run.

The soil requires the protection of the trees from the burning drying sun. In return for supplying a protecting shade, the soil will store moisture and water for the trees. Together, they will produce flowers that will provide nectar for our honey. Ultimately, no other plant can do what trees do to the soil beneath them.

Unfortunately, some big trees are treated like scars within our landscapes, as not every farmer is a beekeeper, and most farmers do not know nor appreciate the actual value of the old trees. A mature tree doesn’t require any maintenance; it preserves the land, keeps the water cycle within the soil and above it, and most importantly, as long as the tree is alive, it can create an ongoing income for honey production lines.

Once the tree has been taken down, the farmer will have to store water in dams, treat the soil with expensive equipment, invest vast resources in the land, only to get a fraction of what one could gain from managing beehives, in combination with intelligent and modest farming in between the trees.

A beekeeper is a forest guard and a forest gardner. Every beekeeper becomes a necessary forest maintainer and educator who cares for the trees through profound understanding that without the forest, we will not have pure and fresh honey or any honey at all.

Save the Trees – Save our Honey.

Dolfi Benesh