Beekeepers' gold: Reconstructing tupelo honey yield in northwest Florida using Nyssa ogeche tree-ring data

This dissertation contains three manuscripts that have been either submitted to or accepted by peer-reviewed academic journals. I first examine the U.S. honey industry to determine how the industry is responding to the current multiple challenges facing U.S. beekeepers. I discuss how the industry might survive these challenges by transitioning to a multifunctional system and becoming more economically and environmentally sustainable.;I then examine a specific honey type—tupelo—in more detail using tree-rings to expand the honey record. Tupelo honey is derived from the nectar of Ogeechee tupelo (Nyssa ogeche) trees growing in northwest Florida and southern Georgia. I use N. ogeche tree-ring data to reconstruct and expand the honey yield-per-hive record and then place the current decline in a historical context. I also identify the climatic and hydrologic conditions conducive to optimal honey yields.;This project is the first to use dendrochronological techniques to expand and analyze honey yields. I use tupelo honey yield as an example of how climatic cycles may cause long-term fluctuations in crop productivity. The results demonstrate the utility of employing tree-rings to extend crop records to allow a broader understanding of yield variations inherent in agriculture and can be implemented for other crop yields.