North Queensland Flowering Calendars

August

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Flowering Calendar – August

Reproduced from Blake ST and Roff C. 1987. Honey Flora of Queensland 3rd Edition, Department of Primary Industries Queensland, Brisbane. See also additional species of interest below. Additional information provided by Mike James.

Common name	Scientific name	Colour of honey	Importance as honey source	Importance as pollen source	Honey flavour	Honey density	Blake & Roff comments	Members comments
Pink ash	Alphitonia petriei	light amber	major	major	fair	moderate	Probably the principal rainforest bee-forage plant. Produces a good supply of nectar and pollen every second or third year.
Orange tree	Citrus aurantium	light amber	minor	minor			Honey is first grade with a characteristic excellent flavour and aroma. It candies readily with a whitish fine grain.
Poplar gum	Eucalyptus platyphylla	medium amber	minor	medium	pleasant	moderate	Flowers lightly most years. In the Townville district, however, about every four years it produces an abundance of pollen.	Irregular producer of nectar, about one year in four. Regular pollen supplier, but needs winter rain to produce nectar.
Brown's box (Reid River box)	Eucalyptus brownii	extra light amber	medium	medium	good	heavy	Irregular producer between Townsville and Charters Towers	Similar to and often growing with E. normantonensis.
Blue gum	Eucalyptus tereticornis	light amber	moderate	major	pleasant	moderate	In most seasons bees build well on this tree.	Produces only when flowering is delayed by late cool winter weather.
Turnip weed	Rapistrum rugosum
White clover	Trifolium repens	light amber	minor	medium	good but mild	light	Sown in pastures and depending on suitable rains, provides a good build for bees.

Additional Species of Note

By Mike James

Common name	Scientific name	Colour of honey	Importance as honey source	Importance as pollen source	Honey flavour	Honey density	Members comments
Wattles	Acacia sp.		nil	minor			Bees can collect pollen, but it is considered to have poor protein content.
Sarsparilla	Alphitonia petriei	light amber	major	major	fair	moderate	Principle rain forest bee forage tree. Bees build well but tend to dwindle quickly when shifted to a site with poor pollen supplies.
Casuarinas	Casuarina sp.; Allocasuarina sp.		minor	minor			Bees collect copious quantities of pollen in some seasons. Pollen is cream coloured and the rust like material at the hive entrances are husks which are discarded.
Citrus	Citrus sp.	light amber	minor	minor	fair	light	Flowers regularly with good pollen but as a support group only if there are insufficient plantings.
Coconut palm	Cocos nucifera
Pumpkins	Cucurbita maxima	medium amber	nil to minor	major		light	Bees obtain good supplies of pollen (highest protein levels available to bees) from most pumpkins.
Other cucurbits	Cucurbita sp.						With the exception of pumpkins, cucurbits seem of little benefit to bees, but cucumbers can be useful.
Lemon-scented gum	Corymbiacitriodora		minor	medium			Close cousin to southern Spotted gum. It has a long bud growing period and can flower any month of the year.
Narrow-leaf ironbark	Eucalyptus crebra	extra white to light amber	minor to major	Medium to major	choice	heavy	Heavy but erratic producer, about one year in five.
Normanton box	Eucalyptus normantonensis	light amber	medium	minor			Most responsive to ground moisture. Bees can build to swarming strength when pollen is collected from another source.
Inland bloodwood	Eucalyptus terminalis		minor				Needs checking. Extensive west of Charters Towers. Most pleasant of the bloodwoods. Has an unusually long flowering period.
Grevillea	Grevillea banksii						Most grevilleas are nectar producers, but in general there is insufficient nectar density to create a honey flow. There may be a sufficient plant population between Rollingstone and Bluewater for a honey flow in a dry year.
Grevillea	Grevillea sp.; hybrids esp. \'93Robyn Gordon\'94	amber	minor	nil			Grevilleas are often planted to attract nectar eating birds but of no major benefit to bees.
Soapy tea-tree	Melaleuca dealbata	medium amber	minor	minor	poor	light	Support species only.
Red bottle brush	Melaleuca viminalis	medium amber	minor to major in town	medium to major	fair	light	Small stands along most creeks, but street planting is a help.
Pigweed	Portulaca bicolor		major				Occurs mainly in headland areas cultivated for irrigated crops.
Umbrella tree	Schefflera (ex Brassaia) actinophylla	dark amber	minor	nil	fair	light	Bees can collect small quantities of this nectar which is nearly black. Bees work these flowers during rain.
African tulip	Spathodea campanulata		minor				Bees collect and are stimulated by the red stringy pollen.