Avocado
Honey bees are the avocado's main pollinator; its nectar is plentiful but not very attractive, and the honey is dark, heavy and molasses-like.
- Nectar
- Good
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 8-20 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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Avocado is a fruit tree from Mexico and Central America, now grown from the Mediterranean to California and South America. A single tree opens a great many small greenish flowers, which give nectar and pollen. The honey bee is the main pollinator of avocado; however, because bees do not find the nectar very attractive, they may drift to nearby citrus or wild flowers.
Flowering
In the northern hemisphere it flowers from February to May. The flowers work in two stages: each flower functions first as female and, when it opens again, as male; cultivars are divided into groups A and B according to this timing.
Honey and pollen
Avocado honey ranges from dark amber to almost black and has a heavy, molasses-like sweetness; it is high in minerals.
Note for the beekeeper
For fruit set it is recommended to place enough hives in the orchard at the start of flowering; if the hives are spread through the orchard, bees stick to avocado better. In Turkey its cultivation is increasing around Antalya and Mersin.