Assessment of Honey Bee Flora in Eastern Zone of Tigray, North Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the existing bee flora and develop floral calendar in Eastern Zone of Tigray. Data were collected by using semi-structured questionnaire as well as direct observation. The total number of household head respondents was 160. Accordingly, different plant species and habit of growth (herb, shrub and tree) were identified as major bee flora. High availability of honeybee shrubs and herb plants was found from September to November while the most important trees flowered in March and May in all the districts. The high scarcity of bee forage was observed in June. Therefore, it is to be noticed that, in order to increase the honey bee yield and quality, scaling up of the coverage and management honeybee floras and considering floral calendar is critically important to the study area.

Keywords: floral calendar, bee flora, honey production