George Bennett 1827-1900
George Bennett wasn’t the first to visit Bandon from Ireland, but he was the one who named the town in 1891, because it reminded him of his home town of Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. His friend, Henry Hewitt Baldwin was the first. Baldwin’s ship, the “Captain Lincoln” wrecked north of the Coos Bay bar in 1852 and he hiked into this area. Baldwin persuaded his home town friend, George Bennett to settle here. Lord Bennett and two sons arrived in 1873. It is unclear how and when the title “Lord” was bestowed on him. Some members of the Bandon Historical Society Museum are in agreement that he acquired the title on the journey from Ireland to here. The former name of the town was Averill which is now the name of the Pioneer Cemetery where Lord Bennett is buried.
Averill Pioneer Cemetery, where Lord Bennett is buried.
Lord Bennett is probably best known not for naming the town, but for bringing GORSE seeds to this area.
The conditions were just right for gorse which in the following decades went wild and became a nuisance in both the town and in the neighboring countryside.
To say gorse is a nuisance plant is probably an understatement. It’s full of sharp spiny thorns, is impenetrable to walk through, and embodies an oil-type substance that makes it highly flammable.
In 1936, the Bandon Fire leveled the town, gorse being a contributing factor.
My new hobby of beekeeping has sparked an interest in gorse. When I joined the local bee club, I was advised that Bandon was not the best place for bees. “Too damp and windy.” I thought to myself maybe Bandon would have a slight advantage in the winter because of all the gorse growing here. It starts to bloom early to mid February and continues through late spring. This would be a definite advantage in giving my bees a nectar and pollen source mid winter.
Some photographs of gorse.
Gorse growing near town
Gorse can grow tall
Gorse pollen is orange…I had been hoping it was the yellow pollen I had seen going into the hive. February 13, 2013
Honey bee on gorse, up the road from me.
I love how the bees swagger when they are loaded with pollen…
I realize that without special techniques to properly identify pollen, I can’t say for certain that all the orange pollen is from gorse. Indeed, I could only find a small percentage of gorse with bees working it, but there is a lot of gorse that I don’t see. My bees were bringing in a gobs of orange pollen through February and early March. It’s possible this pollen could be coming from gorse. I’d like to think so.
A short video showing bees working the gorse.
Footnote: I checked with the The Federation of Irish Beekeepers Association. They list gorse as a source of nectar of minor importance.
Some more photos…
Henry Baldwin’s House, built sometime after the 1936 fire, now known as the Shindler House. Baldwin Cypress in foreground.
Baldwin Cypress now…Shindler house in background
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Hi Pat,
I don’t want to sound opportunistic, but this may be your chance to become Lord Reed. I pledge to swear that you acquired the title on the journey from Ireland to Bandon, however long it took.
“Lord of the Gorse” has a grand sound to it, but this may not be appropriate when one studies your postings on the shrub.
Would Biobees have a lead on a study of Gorse pollen?
“Lord of the Gorse” does have a certain ring to it, but I wouldn’t be too popular around here. Just found out from the biobees posting that there are three kinds of gorse. I asked the Historical Society which kind we had, the reply…? The BAD kind!
That’s too bad, but we can’t be too hard on Bennett, because his botanical mistake was not the only one introduced into the New World. I wonder if the Bad Kind of Gorse has any value to the bees? Maybe the color variation of the pollen has something to do with that. I’m always astounded at their skill and ingenuity. Maybe they take a little of the bad gorse stuff and mix it with another pollen.
Interesting quest.
What a legacy to leave – introducing a nuisance plant that runs rampant and is even the bad kind for bees! Still, the ladies in your video seemed to be enjoying it.
The gorse isn’t really bad for the bees. It’s just that no one around here likes gorse AT ALL. I think they don’t want to learn that it could be good for something.
I went to the bee meeting yesterday to explain my theory that beekeepers in Bandon may have a big mid-winter advantage over those inland beekeepers because gorse doesn’t grow too far inland. I offered to give them seeds and transplants, but they emphatically declined.
Oh dear, gorse obviously has a bad reputation!
The scent and bright yellow flowers of the gorse, together with the early time of flowering (here also February) would lead one to believe that bees would love the plant. Your photos are lovely. Here too gorse is a nuisance plant as it takes over whole areas of land, and at a certain time in winter farmers are allowed to burn it down, often causing whole sides of hills to be on fire, and the fire brigade to be called out. A locally based artist some years ago did a whole series of painting based on the gorse fires. I remember reading also that the gorse flowers were used in the past to scent soaps, and also that the flowers were sometimes used in teas (but I don’t advice trying this without doing your own research on that 🙂 )
Bandon is a nice little town all right, it’s about one hour travel from here. Coincidence that there is a link with your town so far away, but then I think you would find Irish people all over the world. Ireland is a terrible beauty!
Gorse pollen is one of the most nutritious pollens available to bees. In Scotland we treasure it. Colonies of honey bees that start the season with gorse pollen become strong colonies. By the way, in the morning, the gorse pollen loads are brown and in the afternoon they are orange. the colour difference is due to the saliva-nectar-honey mix used to build the pollen loads. (When I typed in my email and name below, a website incorporating part of the email popped up in the third line. I don’t have a website 🙂 )
Thank you for your comment, Margaret…that’s great information about the color of the pollen changing from morning to afternoon.