Is the honey produced from "Tecoma stans" pollen poisonous?

I'm very interested in learning whether the honey produced from the pollen from the flowers of the Tecoma stans is poisonous, or not, because my neighbor has a LOT of bees (which get their water at several of my birdbaths).


I am *very* tempted to grow Tecoma stans in our yard, but hesitate because of reading the following:

"Honey bees are attracted to it, but-unlike most flowering plants-the *honey produced from* Yellow Trumpetbush's nectar/pollen is POISONOUS."
http://www.botanical-journeys-plant-guides.com/yellow-elder.html ;
http://www.theplantencyclopedia.org/wiki/Tecoma_stans ;
http://cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/arboretum/taxon.aspx?id=272

"Yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans) ... is poisonous, yet bees are attracted to it. The bees are not killed by Tecoma stans, but *the honey that comes from it IS poisonous.* [Although] animals can ... eat yellow trumpet bush (Tecoma stans) and it does not harm them."
http://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/garden-q-a/is-cape-honeysuckle-tecoma-capensis-toxic/


Now I'm wondering just how poisonous the honey made from it is ... whether it just gives a tummy ache, or might be fatal. (I don't know if my neighbor leaves all the honey for the bees since his retirement, or eats / gives some away to be eaten.)

Does anyone know for sure whether honey made from Tecoma stans pollen is actually poisonous like I've read . . . ? Or, is it an exaggeration . . . or maybe a myth it its entirety . . . ? IF it is poisonous, how does it become that way?


These 3 items about the plant do not mention any issue for honey production for human use, and several others I've looked at don't either, which is why I am wondering about the validity of the supposed problem:

"Tecoma stans" (AKA: Esperanza, Trumpet-flower, Yellow Bells, or Yellow Elder)
http://www.sungardensinc.com/Shrubs/Tecoma-Stans-Shrub-For-The-Desert-Southwest.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-flower-of-the-tecoma-stans-attacks-bees-butterflies-and-hummingbirds

"Great Summer Color---Tecoma stans"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ebHP61SILQ


I'd truly appreciate link/s to site/s which cite the result/s of actual studie/s, or to the actual study results (even better)!
(I'll keep looking, but haven't found any yet.)

Thanks!

This message was edited Jun 24, 2014 8:09 PM

This message was edited Jun 24, 2014 8:24 PM

http://www.kootenaybees.ca/Plants%20for%20Beekeeping%2010.PDF

http://homesteadingthebackforty.blogspot.com/2008/06/bee-garden-plant-list-good-and-toxic.html

And there are several more sites that may have lists like this.

I dont actually know this answer, but I do notice that honeybbees arent attracted to my fall blooming esperanza, bumbles are, but not the honeybees. They arent really attracted to my basils either like the bumbles are. A hot dry summer the honeybees have to be distracted from my hummer feeders, so I change around my hummer hangers.

I think that unless you have acres of the plant, any amount of poison that may be passed into the honey would be diluted by the honey the bees produce from other non poisonous plants.
Bees can't live exclusively on the nectar and pollen from one type of plant, their health depends on nutrients from a variety of sources which they actively seek out.

In the list you posted from the "Back Forty " blog,
it uses the generic term "trumpet bush". That can
refer to many different plants.

It would be more helpful to research Tecoma stans
itself, specifically.

That is part of the problem with such lists.
They are often quite vague about which species is actually meant.

Those posts & lists appear to be identical to each other, & I didn't see the plant I'm asking about on it/them - Tecoma stans, AKA: Yellow Bells; Esperanza; etc. . . . Just a mention of Koelreuteria paniculata, AKA: Golden Rain Tree . . . which is not the same plant by a long stretch. . . .

Thanks for trying to help, though. I still haven't found an answer. lol




This message was edited Oct 1, 2023 6:04 PM