Abstract

Availability of adequate honeybee forage plants is very important for honey production. The study was conducted to evaluate the best performing bee forages from eight plant species with a view to selecting for honey production for mid and low land agro-ecologies. The planting materials were Parkinsonia aculeate, Leucaena leucocephala, Vernonia amygdalina, Callistemon citrinus, Cajanus cajan, Dovyalis caffra, Sesbania sesban and Dodonaea angustifolia. The species were evaluated based on the number of flower heads per plants, foraging intensity of honeybees, flowering length and amount of pollen. Parkinsonia aculeate, Leucaena leucocephala, Vernonia amygdalina, Callistemon citrinus, Dovyalis caffra, were set flower with the ranges of two to three and half years. Parkinsonia aculeate, Leucaena leucocephala and Callistemon citrinus, provides higher pollen yield. Average number of flower heads per plant was highest for Parkinsonia aculeate from the rest. The flowering time of Parkinsonia aculeate, Leucaena leucocephala, Vernonia amygdalina, Callistemon citrinus and Dovyalis caffra are almost during the dearth period at which only a few bee forage plant species in flower around the area. V. amygdalina and C. citrinus was highly foraged by honeybees from 10:00am-12:00 am, while Parkinsonia aculeate 2:00pm-10:00pm. Parkinsonia aculeate has the highest flowering time with duration up to seven months in a blooming state having lots of flower heads and the rest months with few flowers. Generally, the study revealed that Parkinsonia aculeate, Leucaena leucocephala, Vernonia amygdalina, Callistemon citrinus and Dovyalis caffra were selected as major bee forage plants. However, it requires further evaluation particularly on nectar volume and sugar concentration for these plants and their integration with watershed development is recommended.

Keywords: Bee forage, Pollen, Foraging intensity, Shrub