Screening of Potential Herbaceous Honey Plants for Beekeeping Development

Abstract

Availability of adequate perennial and annual sources of nectar and pollen is the most limiting factor in the survival, abundance and distribution of honeybees. The study was therefore conducted to screen the best performing bee forages from eight plant species with a view to selecting for honey production for high and mid land agro-ecologies. The planting materials were Becium grandiflorum, Vicia sativa, Guizotia abyssinica, Echium plantaginium, Trifolium rupplianum, Brassica carinata, Sinaps alba and Fagophyrum esculentum. The species were evaluated based on germination rate, number of flower heads per plants, time to set flower, foraging intensity of honeybees and flowering length. Accordingly, Becium grandiflorum, Guizotia abyssinica, Brassica carinata, Fagophyrum esculentum and Trifolium rupplianum were good under rain fed condition while Sinaps alba was found to perform better under irrigation fed. On contrary, the study found that Echium plantaginium; Vicia sativa and Fagophyrum esculentum were performed better under both rain fed and irrigation conditions. Mean number of flower heads per 1m2 for all studied plant species were similar except Echium plantaginium which was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to the rest. Honeybees foraging intensity and time for different plant species were significantly different. From these investigations, it is concluded that developing better performing plant species through use of irrigation and rain fed conditions will alleviate the shortage of bee forages and help in increasing honey production.