Major honey flows (plants, seasons)

The classification of a plant species as "important" honey bee plant often depends on different opinions of surveyed beekeepers, due to different criteria selecting and recognizing them (nectar flow, pollen amount, flowering period, quality, frequency of honey bee visits, …).

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Ethiopia: There are several important melliferous plant species within following botanical families: Acanthaceae (Asystasia gangetica, Hypoestes forskaolii, Justicia bizuneshiae), Agavaceae (Agave sisalana), Aloaceae (Aloe spp.), Anacaridaceae (Ozoroa insignis), Araliaceae (Schefflera abyssinica), Arecaceae (Borassus aethiopum, Phoenix reclinata), Asteraceae (Bidens macroptera, B. pachyloma, Carduus camaecephalus, Carthamus tinctorius, Crassocephalum macropappum, Guizotia abyssinica, G. scabra, Helichrysum citrispinum, Mikaniopsis clematoides, Vernonia amygdalina), Boraginaceae (Cordia africana), Cactaceae (Opuntia ficus-indica), Campanulaceae (Lobelia rhynchopetalum), Combretaceae (Combretum molle, Terminalia brownii), Ericaceae (Erica arborea, E. trimera), Euphorbiaceae (Croton macrostachyus, Euphorbium candelabrum), Fabaceae (Acacia spp., Acacia albia, A. brevispica, A. pentagona, A. senegal, A. seyal, A. sieberiana, A. tortilis, Albizia spp., Dichtrostachys cinera, Piliostigma thonningii, Trifolium spp.), Hypericaceae (Hypericum revolutum), Lamiaceae (Becium grandiflorum, Satureja punctata), Leguminosae (Cassia arereh), Malvaceae (Grewia mollis, G. villosa), Moraceae (Ficus sur), Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus globulus), Oleaceae (Olea Africana), Poaceae (Andropogon abyssinicus), Rhamnaceae (Berchemia discolor, Ziziphus pubescens), Rosaceae (Hagenia abyssinica), Rubiaceae (Coffea arabica), Sapotaceae (Aningeria adolfi-friederici, Mimusops laurifolia) and Ulmaceae (Celtis africana, C. toka). It has to be mentioned, that there may be more plant families relevant for honey bees.

The literature is not homogeneous when it comes to major honey harvesting seasons. While Gemechis (2016) claims, that there are two seasons of honey harvesting: October - November and April - June (before and after rainy season) , Gidey et al. (2012) distinguish between honey harvesting periods in the lowlands and midlands (November - December) and in the highlands (April - June). In general it can be said, that the best time for honey harvesting depends on the particular regions, due to the various climate zones in Ethiopia ("mini" harvesting seasons): e. g. in south-western Ethiopia there is a major harvesting season from April - June, and a minor one from November - January.

Indonesia: In general, almost no literature exists on important melliferous plants in Indonesia. Furthermore, there is no information about important floral species for Apis mellifera. However, due to the similar morphology of A. mellifera and A. cerana, it can be assumed, that floral species, important for A. cerana, also act as potential melliferous plant species for A. mellifera: Acanthaceae (Asystasia coromandeliana), Anacardiaceae (Mangifera indica, Mangifera spp.), Arecaceae (Areca catechu, Arenga pinnata, Caryota mitis, Cocos nucifera), Asteraceae (Bidens pilosa, Clibadium surinamensis, Eupatorium inulifolium, E. odoratum, Galinsoga parviflora, Tithonia diversifolia, Mikania micrantha, Spilanthes iabadicensis, S. paniculata), Bombacaceae (Durio zibethinus), Brassicaceae (Brassica rapa, Brassica sp., Rorippa indica), Caricaceae (Carica papaya), Cucurbitaceae (Momordica charantia, Cucumis sativus, Sechium edule), Cyperaceae (Cyperus kyllingia), Euphorbiaceae (Aleurites moluccana, Homalanthus pupulneus), Fabaceae (Acacia auriculiformis, A. mangium, A. crassicarpa, Leucaena glauca, Mimosa invisa, M. pigra, M. pudica, Pithecellobium lobatum, Parkia speciosa), Graminae (Oryza sativa, Zea mays), Lauraceae (Cinnamomum burmanii, Persea americana), Loranthaceae (Loranthus europaeus), Lythraceae (Cuphea spp.), Meliaceae (Melia azedarach, Toona sureni), Myrtaceae (Psidium guajava) & Verbenaceae (Tectona grandis).