Project snapshot: Increasing the value of Australian honey as a health food
Honey has a long history of use to treat digestive ailments and research suggests honey acts as a prebiotic food that favourably changes the balance...
53 pages
Published: 4 Jun 2008
Author(s): Paton, D
Download report PDF
DownloadPurchase a hard copy - AUD $45.00
This report documents the floral resources used by the honeybee industry in rural landscapes of South Australia, particularly the Mt Lofty Ranges. Various species of eucalypt are important sources of nectar for honeybees in this region. A simple method is developed to document the flowering of these plants, allowing spatial and temporal variation in flowering to be documented.
The report aims primarily to provide information on the use of different floral resources by the honeybee industry, and how the flowering levels of key plant species changes over time and following perturbations like fire and drought. Since fire and drought are more likely in southern Australia due to climate change, monitoring the performances of the plants during and following the current drought, and following recent fires, provides a strong basis for predicting future changes to floral resources.