Eupatorium odoratum: A honey plant for beekeepers in Thailand
1997
Siriwat Wongsiri | Ratna Thapa (Chulalongkorn Univ., Bangkok (Thailand). Faculty of Science. Dept. of Biology)
Eupatorium odoratum flowers from November to January in the northern parts of Thailand, in the dry season (March-May) in Malaysia and in winter (November-December) in Nepal. E. odoratum is the second major honey plant for Thai beekeepers. The first major honey plant is longan (Dimocarpus longan) cultivated over about 20,000 hectares in the northern parts of Thailand. It is interesting to note that in Thailand longan flowers bloom less regulary that E. odoratum from year to year. In some years, longan bloom very densely, but in other years it bloom poorly. Therefore when the longan tree do not bloom, E. odoratum is the major honey source E. odoratum blooms annually. In the southern parts of Thailand and in Malaysia, E. odoratum is considered as a minor nectar source. Low temperature, relative humidity and the soil moisture in the cool season probably govern the volume of nectar secretion. E. odoratum nectar has a high sugar concentration (45 percent), which is higher than Vitax pinata (Verbanaceae) (28 percent), and Musa spp. (Musaceae) 27 percent), but lower than Nephelium lappaceum (48 percent) and Litchi chinensis (both Sapindaceae) (62 percent). Peak nectar flow occurs around 13.00 h-15.00 h in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
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