North Queensland Flowering Calendars

November

Flowering Calendar – November

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
River mangrove	Aegiceras corniculatum	Extra white	medium	major	distinctive, not unpleasant	light	Candies quickly with a fine white grain. Most valuable of the mangrove group. Heavy flowering in alternate years.	The nature of northern rivers allows only small stands which are inadequate for a honey flow. Candies readily with fine white grain.
White mahogany (white stringybark)	Eucalyptus acmenoides	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	A supporting species on the Atherton Tableland.
Red stringybark	Eucalyptus resinifera	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	On Atherton Tableland in major flowering year a good support species.
Moreton Bay ash (Carbeen, Stocking gum)	Corymbia tessellaris		minor	major			In Townsville district during the dry period this polen tree is valuable.	Honey is the most stringy of northern types.
Northern swamp box	Lophostemon grandiflorus	white	minor	minor	good	moderate	Produces heavily about one in ten years, particularly in a dry summer on the Atherton Tableland. Important in coastal districts and on the Atherton Tableland.	Produces heavily about one year in ten, particularly during dry summer. Needs creek to run before it quickly buds and flowers.
Swamp mahogany	Lophostemon suaveolens	extra white	medium	minor	good	moderate	Produces heavily about one in five years, particularly in a dry summer. Important in coastal districts and on the Atherton Tableland.
Parkinsonia	Parkinsonia aculeata			minor			Minor supporting species only.
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.
Black bean	Castanospermum sp	amber	minor	nil to minor			Flowers regularly with some nectar.
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.
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.
White stringybark	Eucalyptus acmenoides	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	A strong support species north of Hervey's Range.
Lemon-scented gum	Lophostemon citriodora		minor	medium			Close cousin to southern Spotted gum. It has a long bud growing period and can flower any month of the year.
Silver-leaf (broad-leaf) ironbark	Eucalyptus melanophloia	white to light amber	major	minor	good	heavy
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.
Ghost gum	Eucalyptus platyphylla	dark amber	minor	major	pleasant	moderate	In a good flowering year it is a good support species. It will not bud with insufficient ground moisture.
Hairy bloodwood	Eucalyptus setosa	dark to black					Common west of Charters Towers(occurs with E. papuana). Value to bees unknown.
Inland bloodwood	Corymbiaterminalis		minor				Needs checking. Extensive west of Charters Towers. Most pleasant of the bloodwoods. Has an unusually long flowering period.
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.
Beefwood	Grevillea striata		minor	minor	woody	light	Reliable support species in Townsville district. Tree is to sparsely distributed too provide a honey flow.
Brush box	Lophostemon confertus	extra white to light amber	minor	minor	choice	moderate	Other scrub trees flower at the same time, often spoiling this choice honey.
Swamp mahogany	Lophostemon suaveolens	extra white	medium	nil to minor	good	moderate	Produces heavily about one year in five, particularly in dry summer. Thin nectar is washed out by rain.
Soapy tea-tree	Melaleuca dealbata	medium amber	minor	minor	poor	light	Support species only.
Red bottle brush	Melaleuca viminglis	medium amber	minor to major in town	medium to major	fair	light	Small stands along most creeks, but street planting is a help.
Peltophorum	Peltophorum pterocarpum	amber to yellow	medium	major	fair	light	Useful source of pollen in town, bees build strongly and wax produced is orange.
Cockie apple	Planchonia careya	amber	minor	nil	very unpleasant	light	Honey is of strong and unpleasant character downgrading the flavor of any honey blended with it.
Pigweed	Portulaca bicolor		major				Occurs mainly in headland areas cultivated for irrigated crops.
Rain tree	Samanea saman	light amber	medium	major	fair	light	Regular honey producer in town.
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.
Yellow bells	Tecoma stans	amber to yellow	minor	minor to medium			Bees are attracted to nectar of this support species.
Grasstree	Xanthorrhoea sp.		minor	minor
Yellow penda	Xanthostemon chrysanthus						Flowers regularly around Cardwell.

North Queensland Flowering Calendars

Flowering Calendar – November

Additional Species of Note

Still Have Questions?

Important Link

About Bees

Contact Information