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A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 23 OcTOber 2018
Hurricane Michael could sour Florida's tupelo honey harvest

By JENNIFER KAY except by barge and con-
Associated Press siderable debris remains to
MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane be cleared.
Michael toppled beehives David Westervelt, a state
and stripped flowering apiary inspection supervi-
plants across Florida's Pan- sor, said damaged trees
handle, threatening tupelo might take two or three
honey production in a tiny years to start blooming
community that is the pri- again.
mary source of the sweet "We haven't ever had
delicacy. a storm hit like that, so
Tanker trucks of corn syrup we don't really know,"
and tens of thousands of Westervelt said.
pounds of synthetic pol- The 2018 harvest was espe-
len are being rushed to cially rich in flavor, though
beekeepers from the Gulf not particularly high in vol-
of Mexico to the Georgia ume, beekeepers said.
state line to feed surviving Westervelt estimated not
bee colonies that also pol- quite 1 million pounds (0.45
linate crops such as water- million kilograms) of tupelo
melons, cantaloupes and honey were produced last
blueberries. In this Friday Oct. 12, 2018 photo, Ben Lanier, left, and Justin Sours inspect a beehive after several year, selling for about $6
"Just feeding my bees is trees were knocked down by winds from Hurricane Michael in Wewahitchka, Fla. and up per pound.
the biggest concern," said Associated Press Two days after Michael
Gary Adkison, a Wewahi- made landfall, an Associ-
tchka beekeeper. "There's About 500 beekeepers are ranks highest in price and whose operations shut ated Press photographer
no nectar." registered in Florida's Pan- flavor. down without electricity or found Ben Lanier tending
Adkison, who named his handle, with more than 1.2 The trees grow in remote internet access after Mi- to his hives in spite of fallen
Blue-Eyed Girl Honey for his billion bees in their colonies, swamps in northwestern chael, are anxious to find trees and other debris in
granddaughter, lost about according to the University Florida and southern Geor- out what kind of spring har- Wewahitchka bee yards
50 of his 150 hives to the of Florida's Institute of Food gia, but are most profuse vest they should expect. kept in his family for three
storm, each containing and Agricultural Sciences. along the Apalachicola "The blossoms are so fragile, generations.
30,000 to 40,000 bees. Un- They range from hobby- River in Florida's Gulf Coun- they're like little snowballs," L.L. Lanier and Sons Tupelo
like other beekeepers who ists to mom-and-pop busi- ty. The heart of tupelo hon- Bertonneau said. "A heavy Honey has been in business
move their colonies to pol- nesses to large commercial ey production is Wewahi-
linate crops as far away as operations. tchka, a one-stoplight town
California, Adkison keeps Although Florida also pro- about 15 miles (25 kilome-
his hives local year-round. duces honey from orange ters) inland from where Mi-
"To be honest, I didn't ex- blossoms, gallberries and chael made landfall Oct.
pect this much damage," wildflowers, the honey from 10 with 155-mph (250-kph)
he said. white tupelo gum trees winds.
"Everybody has a jar of it on
their kitchen table," Adki-
son said.
Now, he added, everyone
worries how Michael would
affect the star of the an-
nual Tupelo Honey Festival,
which draws thousands of
people in May.
Van Morrison's song about
a girl "as sweet as tupelo
honey, just like honey from
the bee" captures its dis-
tinct nature: True tupelo
honey is bottled more or
less straight from the hive,
without heating or blend-
ing with other honeys. It
does not crystalize, remain-
ing a smooth, golden liquid.
"It's got a fruity, floral burst
of flavor," said Brian Berton-
neau, owner of Wewahi- In this Friday Oct. 12, 2018 photo, a bottle of Tupelo honey is
tchka-based Smiley Honey. shown in Wewahitchka, Fla.
"It's just a happy dance in Associated Press
your mouth."
The trees bloom for only wind or rain will knock them since the 1890s, and in a
In this Friday Oct. 12, 2018 photo, Justin Sours looks at bees in three weeks starting in mid- off the tree." Facebook post Thursday,
a hive after a tree was knocked down by winds from Hurricane April. Michael's toll on tupelos is Lanier and his wife said the
Michael in Wewahitchka, Fla. Beekeepers and business as yet unclear because the hurricane would not shut
Associated Press owners like Bertonneau, trees are difficult to reach them down.q