Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan;24(1):180-191.
doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.05.002. Epub 2016 May 10.

Nectar secretion dynamics and honey production potentials of some major honey plants in Saudi Arabia

Nuru Adgaba  1 , Ahmed Al-Ghamdi  1 , Yilma Tadesse  1 , Awraris Getachew  1 , Awad M Awad  2 , Mohammad J Ansari  1 , Ayman A Owayss  2 , Seif Eldin A Mohammed  1 , Abdulaziz S Alqarni  2
Affiliations

Nectar secretion dynamics and honey production potentials of some major honey plants in Saudi Arabia

Nuru Adgaba et al. Saudi J Biol Sci. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

The contribution of a bee plant species to honey production depends on the plant's nectar secretion quality and quantity, which is mainly governed by biotic and abiotic factors. The aim of the current study, was to investigate the nectar secretion dynamics and honey production potential of 14 major bee plant species of the target area. We examined the quantity and dynamics of nectar sugar per flower five times a day using a nectar sugar washing technique and direct measuring of nectar with calibrated capillary tubes. The average nectar sugar amount of the species varied from 0.41 mg/flower to 7.7 mg/flower (P < 0.0001). The honey sugar per flower was used to extrapolate the honey production potential per plant and per hectare of land. Accordingly the honey production potential of the species observed to vary from 14 kg/hectare in Otostegia fruticosa to 829 kg/hectare in Ziziphus spina-christi. The nectar secretion dynamics of the species generally showed an increasing trend early in the morning, peaking toward midday, followed by a decline but different species observed to have different peak nectar secretion times. Generally, the tree species secreted more nectar sugar/flower than the herbs. The nectar secretion amount of the species was positively correlated with the ambient temperature, indicating the adaptation of the species to hot climatic conditions. However, different species were observed to have a different optimum temperature for peak nectar secretion. Despite the limited rainfall and high temperature of the area, many plants were found to have good potential for honey production. The monetary value of honey per hectare of the studied honeybee plant species can be of equal or greater than the per-hectare monetary value of some cultivated crops that require numerous inputs. In addition, the information generated is believed to be useful in apiary site selection and to estimate the honey bee colony carrying capacity of an area.

Keywords: Bee plant; Floral phenology; Honey; Melliferous plants; Nectar secretion; Nectar sugar.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A physiographic map of Saudi Arabia with white points representing study sites.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nectar secretion dynamics of some honey plant species in Saudi Arabia at different times of a day (A = Acacia, B = Lamiacae, C = Ziziphus).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abalaka M.E., Daniyan S.Y., Mann A. Evaluation of the antimicrobial activities of two Ziziphus species (Ziziphus mauritiana L. and Ziziphusspinachristi L.) on some microbial pathogens. Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 2010;4(4):135–139. (accessed Nov. 2014)
    1. Abbasi A.M., Khan M.A., Ahmad M., Zafar M., Jahan S., Sultana S. Ethnopharmacological application of medicinal plants to cure skin diseases and in folk cosmetics among the tribal communities of North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. J. Ethnopharmacol. 2010;128:322–335. - PubMed
    1. Abd El-Ghani M.M. Phenology of ten common plant species in western Saudi Arabia. J. Arid Environ. 1997;35:673–683.
    1. Aboutabl E.A., Sokkar N.M., Megid R.M.A., de Pooter H.L., Masoud H. Composition and antimicrobial activity of Otostegia fruticosa Forssk. oil. J. Essent. Oil Res. 1995;7:299.
    1. Adgaba N., Awad M.A., Al-Ghamdi1 A.A., Alqarni A.S., Radloff S.E. Nectar of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd (Rhamnaceae): dynamics of secretion and potential for honey production. J. Apic. Sci. 2012;56(2):49–59.

LinkOut - more resources