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Understanding the biology of flora and its value to honey bees is the core foundation for successful beekeeping. Bees feed on nectar and pollen. No food equals no bees!

The flowers on which bees forage have a major impact on stocking rates and the level of nutrition available to the colony, two subjects that need to be understood for a beekeeper to be successful. Whether a beekeeper owns one hive or a thousand, the principle is the same.

Floral resources within Australia underpin so many systems and animal species. Building knowledge and understanding of what they are, and how they are adapting to a changing climate, is a critical field of scientific endeavour.

This publication is part of the journey to focus on the value of plants to nectarivores and honey bees in particular. The result of over 30 years of research, it distils both scientific knowledge and the opinions of hundreds of beekeepers into a reference work that will be the cornerstone of floral understanding in apiculture for years to come.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

What makes an ideal apiary site?

Hive stocking rate

Honey bee nutrition

Star rating

A note on flowering charts

What’s in a name?

Describing plants

List families – genus/species

Plant profiles

Glossary

Bibliography and references

Websites

Index