If a tree striketh a cactus will it produce rain?(hickory tree sap-bees lick up)

[keeperofthebees]

Before you all go wise cracking around, think of this.  How many times have you seen hardwood trees bleeding sap in the right conditions?  Bees will lick up sap from a bleeding hickory nut tree out here in the midwest.  An old fella I know told me about a summer when the bees filled a super on tree sap one year.  The bees will even lick up standing water out of rain puddles & flower blossoms(tiger lilly, etc).

Won't the bees drink up the sap/water from a cactus?  Wild agave grows down in texas from what I'm reading.

"If the top of the agave plant is removed but the root left in the ground sap will flow up for hours. Collect and ferment this sap to form a weak tequila. A sweet syrup can also be pressed from the roasted body & root of agave. "

Post some pics of the cactus in your area, if you're in the desert.  OR post up some picks of the bees drinking tree sap/licking it up.  Why couldn't someone take a lawnmower over some wild agave?  You'd think that in a nectar dearth, the bees would be on a frenzy...if you raked some up and tossed it in front of the hives...under a shade tree with a little bit of water in it.

[keeperofthebees]

The below link shows the common cactus to my area of Texas.  We call it prickly pear cactus.  It blooms after large rains.  Lots of pollinators come to the blooms, including my bees.  I don't know about the sap.  Like most cactus plants, it stores water in its leaves after rains.  At certain times, it would contain a lot of sap.  Hmmm……

http://www.desertusa.com

If they're not a protected plant...then take a run at it.  Take one with your bee gloves, cut it open...Sit it in front of your hive and see what they do with it.  If they dont' like it, they won't touch it right?  Mulcher lawn mower if it works, and spread them all over in patches to grow like crazy.  Don't you see those prickly pears where the mexican food is at in the grocery store?...People are eating them from what I'm reading.  Theres some sort of invasive wild cactus all over the dakotas along the rest areas, in wyoming, etc.  It makes you wonder...

[iddee]

Don't know about Cactus, but knew an older beek here that would tap the maples and feed the sap to his bees in Jan. and Feb. Said it was cheaper and more natural than sugar.

[keeperofthebees]

Don't know about Cactus, but knew an older beek here that would tap the maples and feed the sap to his bees in Jan. and Feb. Said it was cheaper and more natural than sugar.

They say boxelder being a maple makes sap as well, but it tastes bad.  I can take 100 different kinds of honey and people will hate it.  Like galberry, buckwheat, etc.  We have a ton of boxelders up here in the state.  I'm going to be tapping some this spring for syrup though.

[lazy shooter]

Keeper:

Some of the local markets sell dethroned cactus leaves.  My wife and I, take the juice from the fruit and make it into jelly.  It makes very good jelly.  The juice is also drinkable, and it is considered very healthy with lots of antioxidants. 

I use a pair of welders gloves to pick the fruit, split the fruit in half, cover it with water and bring to a slow boil for 15 minutes.  Strain the juice from the fruit, and you will have a very concentrated pink to orange juice.  We only use it for jelly.

Incidentily, the fruit is called a "tuna."

My mom was one half Comanche indian, and she would cut the leaves in thin strips and boil them into a paste.  The paste could then be used as a poultice to pull poison from an open wound.  When it dried, it was about one-half the size of the original volume.

I will cut some in half and place them near the hives when next they bloom.

[keeperofthebees]

Keeper:

Some of the local markets sell dethroned cactus leaves.  My wife and I, take the juice from the fruit and make it into jelly.  It makes very good jelly.  The juice is also drinkable, and it is considered very healthy with lots of antioxidants. 

I use a pair of welders gloves to pick the fruit, split the fruit in half, cover it with water and bring to a slow boil for 15 minutes.  Strain the juice from the fruit, and you will have a very concentrated pink to orange juice.  We only use it for jelly.

Incidentily, the fruit is called a "tuna."

My mom was one half Comanche indian, and she would cut the leaves in thin strips and boil them into a paste.  The paste could then be used as a poultice to pull poison from an open wound.  When it dried, it was about one-half the size of the original volume.

I will cut some in half and place them near the hives when next they bloom.

You're stirring up some ideas here...I'll have to go out and by a few slabs tonight.  What about running it through one of those hand crank meat grinders to get the juice out?  It would be like a makeshift apple cider mill.