Gum arabic tree
The thorny gum arabic tree of the Sahel and Sudan belt; its cream flower spikes offer bees pollen and some nectar in the dry season.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Good
- Flowering
- Flowering time varies with region and rainfall.
- Height
- 2-12 m
- Life cycle
- Perennial
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The gum arabic tree is a small spiny tree of the Sahel belt, stretching from Mauritania to Sudan and Somalia, and of the dry regions of Arabia and India. The resinous gum that exudes from its trunk is the world's main source of commercial gum arabic. Bees visit the flowers on its creamy-white cylindrical spikes; its pollen contribution is clear, while its nectar contribution varies with local conditions.
Flowering
It mostly flowers at the end of the dry season, just before the rains or with the first of them; as the timing varies by region, no month range is given.
Honey and pollen
In Sudan and the Sahel it contributes to acacia-blend honeys, but it is not established as a separate commercial monofloral honey. Measured data on the beekeeping value of this species are limited.
Note for the beekeeper
It does not grow outdoors in Europe or Turkey. The gum from the trunk has not been documented as a propolis source.