Summer Spotlight Series: Tupelo Trees and Honey

Van Morrison’s song “Tupelo Honey” contains the line “You can’t stop us ‘cause our eyes can see.” In the case of tupelo honey, we might add “’ cause our tongues can taste.” Tupelo trees and honey were featured in Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve’s second summer spotlight. Several visitors took part in a blended honey vs. tupelo blind taste test. The results were clear. Every participant could discern the difference. Our watershed’s “liquid gold” comes from a very special tree that can be an indicator of the health of our watershed. Drought, coupled with its typical 2-3 weeks flowering season, can affect the production of tupelo honey. Visitors were interested to learn more about bee hives on barges to ensure that the honey was created overwhelmingly from tupelo tree nectar. Like all the specimens featured this summer, the health of the river, the trees, and the bees, help us tell the interconnected tale of our watershed. Indeed, one might refer to tupelo honey as offering the terroir of our river to those who taste it.