Why So Many Bees Choose Tamarisk Trees in Las Vegas
- 9 hours ago
- 7 min read
Why do bees love salt cedar trees (tamarisk) in Las Vegas?
The desert has long periods with very few blooming plants, especially during summer. Salt cedar flowers during one of those gaps, making it one of the most dependable nectar sources available. That's why beekeepers often notice heavy honeybee activity around these trees while many other plants appear dormant.
If you've spent any time in the Southwest, you know tamarisk. It lines the wash banks and river corridors in long, feathery rows, covered in tiny pink and white flowers for months on end.
Land managers largely hate it. Water agencies have spent decades trying to kill it. And our bees? They absolutely depend on it.
We keep hives in areas thick with tamarisk, and what we see every year tells the story better than any research paper. The colonies we run near those trees come into fall noticeably stronger than colonies in areas with more typical desert forage.
They go into winter with more bees, better stores, and a head start on the following spring.
Salt Cedar or Tamarisk
Tamarisk, also called salt cedar, is native to Eurasia and Africa. It was brought to the United States in the early 1800s, originally planted as an ornamental and for erosion control along riverbanks.
It was good at both jobs, maybe too good. It spread rapidly across the Southwest, colonizing millions of acres of riparian habitat along the Colorado River, the Rio Grande, and every wash and drainage in between.
The ecological complaints are legitimate. Salt cedar has a deep taproot that can pull water from 30 feet below ground, which stresses surrounding vegetation and can lower the water table enough to dry out springs and shallow-rooted native plants.
The leaves pull salt from the groundwater and deposit it on the soil surface when they drop, creating a salty crust that prevents cottonwoods, willows, and native grasses from germinating.
Dense stands of dead material also create serious fire fuel. These are real problems, and the push to control or eradicate tamarisk is not without reason.
But the picture changes when you're a beekeeper in the Mojave in July.
The Summer Dearth Problem
Anyone who keeps bees in the desert knows what the summer dearth feels like. Spring wildflowers bloom hard and fast, then the heat arrives and most of the desert goes quiet.
Native plants that flower in summer are scattered and inconsistent. For a colony trying to build and store food through the hottest months of the year, it can be a genuine crisis.
Tamarisk blooms continuously from spring through early fall. Through June, July, August, and into September, when the rest of the desert landscape is essentially shut down, salt cedar is producing nectar and pollen at a steady rate.
It doesn't care about the heat. It has a taproot pulling water from deep underground and a blooming window that aligns almost perfectly with the hardest stretch of the beekeeper's calendar.
For our hives near tamarisk stands, that extended forage window is the difference. The colonies aren't just surviving those months; they're building. By the time fall arrives, those hives have populations and food stores that set them up for a strong winter and an earlier, more aggressive spring buildup the following year.
The Honey Is Different
Tamarisk honey is not darker than what you'd pull off a spring wildflower flow. It's robust, with a stronger flavor profile that doesn't appeal to everyone but has its own character. A good portion of tamarisk honey never gets harvested at all, at least not by us.
We leave it in the hive as winter stores. Don't think of this as a waste. A colony heading into a Las Vegas winter on a full box of dark, high-density tamarisk honey is a colony that's going to make it.
The Controversy Worth Knowing About
The relationship between honeybees and tamarisk got complicated in 2001 when researchers introduced the tamarisk leaf beetle as a biological control.
The beetle was released specifically to defoliate and eventually kill salt cedar at scale. It worked. The beetle spread along river systems and began knocking out tamarisk in significant numbers.
The beekeeping community pushed back hard. As large stretches of salt cedar were defoliated, regional colonies lost their primary late-season food source.
Colony losses followed. The conflict brought a real tension into focus: a successful effort to remove an invasive plant was simultaneously threatening managed honeybee populations and the broader pollination economy those bees support.
Commercial colonies that winter in the Southwest are the same bees that get trucked to California's almond orchards every February. What happens to them in August matters to the almond crop in February.
There's also an irony worth sitting with. Honeybees themselves are not native to North America. European honeybees were introduced to the Americas in the 1600s.
Both tamarisk and Apis mellifera are transplants from the Old World that have become deeply embedded in the New World's agricultural and ecological systems. The line between invasive and essential is blurrier than it first appears.
Where Things Stand Now
Land managers have gradually moved away from wholesale eradication and toward more phased approaches.
The idea is to remove tamarisk in stages while actively replanting with native nectar sources like willow, mesquite, and native wildflowers, so that pollinators always have something available during the transition.
It's a slower process, but it acknowledges that you can't just rip out millions of acres of forage without consequences.
For us, the practical reality is that tamarisk is here, our bees use it, and the colonies that have access to it are measurably better off.
It is just an honest account of what we see in the field, which is that the desert's ecology is complicated, the timelines are long, and the bees will tell you what's working whether you're paying attention or not.
FAQ
Do honeybees collect both nectar and pollen from tamarisk (salt cedar)?
Yes. Honeybees collect both nectar and pollen from tamarisk flowers. The nectar is carried back to the hive and transformed into honey, while the pollen provides the protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals needed to feed developing larvae and support a healthy colony.
When do honeybees forage on tamarisk trees?
Honeybees begin visiting tamarisk as soon as the trees come into bloom, which typically occurs during the hot summer months and can continue into early fall depending on the species and local conditions. This bloom period is especially valuable because it coincides with the desert's summer nectar dearth, when many other flowering plants have already finished blooming.
Can honeybees survive without tamarisk in the desert?
Yes, but it depends on the availability of other flowering plants. In many arid regions, tamarisk has become one of the most dependable late-season nectar sources. If tamarisk were removed without restoring native plants that bloom at the same time, honeybee colonies could experience food shortages, reduced honey production, and weaker populations heading into winter.
Do Africanized honeybees use tamarisk trees?
Yes. Africanized honeybees forage on tamarisk just as readily as European honeybees. Both are the same species of honeybee and collect nectar and pollen from the same flowering plants. The difference between them lies in their genetics and defensive behavior, not in the flowers they visit.
Why are there so many honeybees on my salt cedar tree?
A blooming salt cedar tree can produce an enormous number of nectar-rich flowers, attracting thousands of worker bees from nearby colonies.
During the hot summer months, when few other plants are flowering, honeybees concentrate their foraging on tamarisk because it offers one of the best available food sources.
If you see large numbers of honeybees on a flowering salt cedar tree, they are usually focused on gathering nectar and pollen rather than paying attention to people nearby.
Does tamarisk produce enough nectar to make honey?
Yes. Tamarisk is considered an excellent nectar-producing tree in many parts of the Southwest. When large stands of trees are in bloom, honeybees can collect enough nectar to produce surplus honey, particularly during years with favorable weather and abundant flowering.
Is tamarisk one of the best nectar sources for honeybees in the desert?
For many desert beekeepers, yes. Tamarisk provides abundant nectar during a time of year when few other plants are blooming. Although native flowering plants are important for maintaining healthy ecosystems, tamarisk has become a valuable food source for managed honeybee colonies in many arid regions.
Why do beekeepers value tamarisk trees?
Beekeepers value tamarisk because it helps sustain honeybee colonies during one of the toughest parts of the year. Its dependable summer bloom provides nectar for honey production and pollen for raising brood when many other food sources have disappeared. This late-season forage can help colonies build strength before winter.
Do honeybees prefer tamarisk over native flowers?
Not necessarily. Honeybees generally visit the flowers offering the greatest reward of nectar and pollen at any given time. When native plants are blooming, honeybees readily forage on them. During the summer dearth, however, tamarisk often becomes one of the few abundant nectar sources available, making it especially attractive.
Can honeybees pollinate tamarisk?
Yes. As honeybees move from flower to flower collecting nectar and pollen, they transfer pollen between blossoms, helping pollinate the trees. Although tamarisk does not depend solely on honeybees for pollination, honeybees are among its most frequent flower visitors.
Do honeybees visit tamarisk all day?
Honeybees usually begin foraging shortly after sunrise when temperatures allow and continue throughout the day as long as nectar is available. Activity often peaks during the cooler morning hours, especially during the intense summer heat of the Southwest.
What happens to honeybee colonies after tamarisk finishes blooming?
Once tamarisk stops flowering, honeybees shift to whatever nectar and pollen sources remain available. If few plants are blooming, colonies rely more heavily on the honey they have stored. Beekeepers may also provide supplemental feeding if natural forage becomes scarce before winter.
Betsy & Pete
🐝 Las Vegas’s All-Natural Live Bee Removal Team
About Us: The Authors
We’re Betsy Lewis and Pete Rizzo - Beekeepers on a Mission in Las Vegas
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