North Queensland Flowering Calendars

October

Flowering Calendar – October

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.
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.
Black sheoak	Casuarina littoralis			medium			Orange-brown flower particles at hive entrances indicate bees are working Casuarina
White mahogany (white stringybark)	Eucalyptus acmenoides	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	A supporting species on the Atherton Tableland.
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.
Red stringybark	Eucalyptus resinifera	medium amber	minor	major	strong	light	On Atherton Tableland in major flowering year a good support species.
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.
Moreton Bay ash (Carbeen, Stocking gum)	Corymbiatessellaris		minor	major			In Townsville district during the dry period this polen tree is valuable.	Honey is the most stringy of northern types.
Southern silky oak	Grevillea robusta			medium			On the Atherton Tableland this ornamental is a good source of pollen.
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.
Turpentine	Syncarpia glomulifera	extra light amber	minor	minor	strong unpleasant	moderate	Bitter flavour, spoils other honeys when blended.
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.
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\'92s Range.
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.
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	Corymbia 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.
Silver-leaf ironbark	Eucalyptus whitei						Needs early storm rains to produce nectar.
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.
Beefwood	Grevillea striata		minor	minor	woody	light	Reliable support species in Townsville district. Tree is to sparsely distributed to 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 viminalis	medium amber	minor to major in town	medium to major	fair	light	Small stands along most creeks, but street planting is a help.
White cedar	Melia azedarach	light amber	minor	minor	fair	light	Deciduous trees from rainforest margins which help provide a spring build-up.
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.
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.

North Queensland Flowering Calendars

Flowering Calendar – October

Additional Species of Note

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