A possible use for invasive spotted lanternflies? Food for bees, Ohio expert says

(WKBN) — As spotted lanternflies are taking Ohio and other parts of the U.S. by storm, experts are working to find any potential benefits to the invasion and think they may have found one: as another food source for bees, especially with flowers suffering under recent drought conditions.

Jonathan Shields is the spotted lanternfly program manager at the Ohio Department of Agriculture. He says it’s difficult to get accurate numbers on the spotted lanternfly populations, and the department bases the data on reported sightings.

“We are receiving quite a lot of reports from the public of spotted lanternfly, and we’re seeing it in new areas where we haven’t seen it in previous years,” Shields said. “So based on that, we would definitely say spotted lanternfly is spreading in Ohio.”

So far, according to Shields, crop growers in Ohio haven’t seen a significant impact on their harvests as a result of the invasive insects.

“One thing that we do have kind of going for us in terms of the spotted lanternfly is that it is susceptible to these treatment methods, so a lot of grape growers already have a treatment regimen that they do, and that might be effective in controlling spotted lanternfly as well,” Shields said.

As destructive as spotted lanternflies may be, they may actually have a use to other insects around them.

Dr. Tracy Farone is a professor of biology at Grove City College who recently earned a certification in honey bee medicine (Cert HbV) from the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium. She’s a beekeeper herself and has noticed an interesting dynamic between honey bees and spotted lanternflies.

“With the lantern flies coming in and presenting themselves in big numbers, the honeybees are attracted to this, and they’re picking it up and they’re incorporating it in their honey,” Farone said.

What attracts the bees to the lanternflies is their “honeydew,” a polite term for their excrement, a sweet liquid containing the lanternfly’s waste. That liquid will accumulate on surfaces below where they feed, like on trees and leaves, which can lead to the growth of sooty mold.

“So the good thing about the lanternflies is they’re providing an extra source for the honey bees that they wouldn’t necessarily have,” Farone explained. “Sometimes, fall can be pretty scarce if it’s dry, particularly this year. So in some ways it gives the honeybee something to do, and something to collect, and something to replace the nectar that might be lost in a drought so that they can have stores for the winter.”

But using that honeydew in place of nectar from flowers does impact the honey produced by the bees, both in flavor and color. One local beekeeper who tasted honey made with that honeydew described the taste as “almost smoky.” It has also been described as having a smoky odor, according to PennState Extension, and is not as sweet as other kinds of honey.

For some, there may appear to be a lingering aftertaste to honey made with the help of lanternfly honeydew, but people have eaten it “with no ill effects,” Shannon Powers, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, previously told Nexstar.

“There’s different honeys from different flowers, different times of the year, different locations around the world. And you can have honeys that are clear in color to almost black in color, and then all the colors in between … and the flavors will be very different depending on [the sources],” Farone said. “So this is a new thing.”

Farone said it can be looked at from two perspectives: “tainted” lanternfly honey, or perhaps a marketing opportunity for a new type of honey.

“We don’t like to think of honey being made from insect poop, but that’s really not a new thing. What happens is, different insects, like aphids, typically will chew up some of the plant, and they can’t digest all the sugar, so their excrement will contain some sugars, and honey bees will come around and actually pick that up, that sugar, and incorporate that into their nectar, in their hives, in their honey. And pretty much any honey that you eat has some level of honeydew in it,” Farone said.

In case you’re curious, the spotted lanternflies have not proven to be toxic to humans or animals. In areas where the lanternflies are native, people have been known to consume them. So yes, you could, if you wanted, eat them.

Despite the benefits to bees, both Dr. Farone and Shields say you should continue to squash the bugs when you see them due to their invasive nature and damaging impact.

“Lanternflies are kind of outsmarting us at this point, despite our efforts,” Farone said. “But we’re trying to keep them controlled. We’re hoping that they kind of come into an area and then nature kind of helps work them through a cycle so that they don’t completely come in and take over. … But I am sort of thankful for them this year. I think my bees are as well.”

While guidance can vary by state, the general rule of thumb is to squash spotted lanternflies in areas where they have already been confirmed. If they have not previously been reported in your area, you may be asked to contact your local wildlife officials.

Nexstar’s Addy Bink contributed to this report.