North Queensland Flowering Calendars

February

Flowering Calendar – February

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
Grey mangrove	Avicennia marina	light amber	minor	minor	strong	light	Useful supporting species.	Useful support species, but good yields have not been reported.
Narrow-leafed ironbark	Eucalyptus crebra	extra light amber	major	medium	choice	heavy	Some years 82kg per colony produced in the drier western section of the Atherton Tableland.	Flowers April to Sep. See comments in "Other species of note"
Cullen's ironbark	Eucalyptus cullenii	extra light amber	major	medium	choice	heavy	This ironbark is not well known by beekeepers but is reported to have the same value as the narrow-leafed ironbark. Further investigation is required.
Pink bloodwood	Corymbia intermedia	medium amber	minor	minor	strong	light	Flowering affected adversely by wet season. Restricted value.	Bees build well and will store honey after storms in November. Flowering affected by wet season.
Molloy red box	Eucalyptus leptophleba		minor	minor	good		Honey is reported to have reddish tint. Requires investigation and is probably more important than at present estimated. Plentiful Mount Garnet district.
Mountain coolibah	Eucalyptus orgadophila	extra light amber	major	medium	good	moderate	Produces heavily about one year in four in the drier basaltic areas of the Cairns hinterland
Red stringybark	Eucalyptus pellita	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	On lower coastal slopes a good support species
Rusty jacket	Corymbia peltata		minor				Found scattered in the Herbert-Irvinebank area. The bee forage value of this tree is not well known.	Flower cups show plenty of nectar.
Silver-leafed ironbark	Eucalyptus shirleyi	extra light amber	medium	minor	good	heavy	About 28kg per district.	In major flowering year this is a good support species. Can also flower in December - see comments in "Extra species of note"
Brown bloodwood	Eucalyptus trachyphloia	medium amber	medium	minor	strong	light	Of some value on the Atherton Tableland.	Early flowering bloodwood, usually on well drained hilly country
Broad-leafed tea tree	Melaleuca viridiflora	light amber	medium	major	poor	light	A good source of pollen.	Honey flavour is choice. A good pollen source but needs water to pond over roots on summer days to yield nectar.
Maize (corn)	Zea mays			major			Excellent source of pollen.	Excellent source of pollen which beekeepers are making better use of.

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.
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	Corymbia citriodora		minor	medium			Close cousin to southern Spotted gum. It has a long bud growing period and can flower any month of the year.
Coolibah	Eucalyptus microtheca	white to light amber	major	medium	good	Very heavy	Regular producer around waterways away from the coast, but a poor producer in coastal areas.
Gum-topped box	Eucalyptus moluccana	white to medium amber	major	medium	pleasant, unusual flavour	moderate	Honey ferments and froths unless well ripened. Candies rapidly. Produces heavily about one in three years.
Silver-leaf (broad-leaf) ironbark	Eucalyptus melanophloia	extra light amber	medium	minor	good	heavy	In major flowering year this is a good support species.
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.
Peltophorum	Peltophorum pterocarpum	amber to yellow	medium	major	fair	light	Useful source of pollen in town, bees build strongly and wax produced is orange.
Pigweed	Portulaca bicolor		major				Occurs mainly in headland areas cultivated for irrigated crops.
Pigweed	Portulaca oleracea; P. pilosa		major				Occurs mainly in headland areas cultivated for irrigated crops.
Mintweed	Salvia reflexa						Mintweed grows quickly after early rainfall and produces sufficient pollen and nectar for building bees.
Rain tree	Samanea saman	light amber	medium	major	fair	light	Regular honey producer in town.
Yellow bells	Tecoma stans	amber to yellow	minor	minor to medium			Bees are attracted to nectar of this support species.
Caltrop	Tribulus terrestris		minor	medium			Bees are often seen beside roads collecting lemon yellow pollen. The pollen is of high quality and accelerates brood rearing, soon after drought breaking rains.
Yellow penda or Golden penda	Xanthostemon chrysanthus	extra light amber	major	medium	good	light	Flowers regularly around Cardwell. Major flowering in Townsville suburbs after big rain.

North Queensland Flowering Calendars

Flowering Calendar – February

Additional Species of Note

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