Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean

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2016 Nectar, Pollen, and Propolis source plants

Apis mellifera, or European Honey Bee is only able to take food from 250-300 plants in any given location, Grenada is no different. This manual is to help with plant identification, advice on planning propagation and if the plant is a nectar, pollen, or propolis bearing. Compiled and designed by Megan Wannarka

Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book would not have been possible without the help of many beekeepers of Grenada and others around the Caribbean lending their local knowledge combined with the few books and websites I could find dedicated to plans on the island of Grenada. Also many other locals on busses helpfully gave local names of trees, stories and additional information when I simply pointed at a tree and asked if anyone knew its name to a full bus of people. This book is not the end all of knowledge for honey bee plants on the island but a start of hopefully a larger conversation. Thank you for your support, patience and advice.

BACKGROUND Megan Wannarka served in Senegal, West Africa as Peace Corps Sustainable Extension Agent from 2012 to 2014 working with local farmers there to improve techniques, find best practices and worked with local beekeepers and African honey bees. In Grenada she served again in 2015-2016 with Peace Corps Response as a Beekeeping Trainer and Specialist partnering with the Grenada Association of Beekeepers, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands Forestry, Fishers and the Environment of Grenada and beekeepers throughout the island. Trainings and one-on-one was her primary focus to communicate best practices found on the island and Grenada specific information to beekeepers, partners and interested people starting in beekeeping. This plant idenfication manual is focused for beekeepers, farmers and those interested in supporting beekeeping on Grenada and through the Caribbean to be an identification manual, documentation of known plant knowledge on the island and a place to note additional known valuable species.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 2

BACKGROUND ...... 2

HISTORY OF BEES IN GRENADA ...... 9

DEFINITIONS ...... 11 Honey ...... 11 Honeydew ...... 11 Nectar ...... 11 Pollen ...... 12 Propolis ...... 12

BEE PLANTS & HOW TO USE THE MANUAL ...... 13 Acajou-bois ...... 14 Akee ...... 14 Allspice ...... 15 Almond ...... 15 Anatto...... 16 Angel's trumpet ...... 16 Avocado ...... 17 Bamboo palm...... 17 Barbados Aloes ...... 18 Bastard Cedar ...... 18 Beach Morning Glory ...... 19 Begoniae ...... 19 Berlliric myrobalan ...... 20 Black eye pea ...... 20 Black Mangrove ...... 21 Black Sage ...... 22 Bonavist bean ...... 22 Bottle gourd ...... 23 Bread nut ...... 23 Breadfruit ...... 24 Briar ...... 24 Butterfly flower ...... 25 Butterfly lily ...... 25 Button Mangrove ...... 26 Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka 3 Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean Cabbage ...... 26 Cacolay ...... 27 Campheche ...... 27 Caneficer batard ...... 28 Carambola ...... 28 Cardamom ...... 29 Cashew ...... 29 Cassie-Flowers ...... 30 Castor ...... 30 Century Plant ...... 31 Cerises a cotes ...... 31 Chew Stick ...... 32 Chilli ...... 32 Christmas bush ...... 33 Christophene ...... 33 Citron ...... 34 Clove ...... 34 Cockscomb ...... 35 Cockspur ...... 35 Coconut ...... 36 Coco-ravet ...... 36 Coffee ...... 37 Corallita ...... 37 Corn ...... 38 Cotonnier ...... 38 Cotton ...... 39 Cousin Mahoe ...... 39 Crackopen ...... 40 Crepe flower ...... 40 Cutlette ...... 41 Damsel ...... 41 Divi-Divi ...... 42 Eggplant ...... 42 False heather ...... 43 Pork fat ...... 43 Flamboyante ...... 44 Flame vine ...... 44 Flax leaf ...... 45 Four o'clock ...... 45

4 Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean Frangipani ...... 46 Ganjah ...... 46 Ginger Thomas ...... 47 Gliricidia ...... 48 Golden apple ...... 48 Golden Shower ...... 49 Governor plum ...... 49 Gram ...... 50 Grape ...... 50 Grapefruit ...... 51 Grommier blanc ...... 51 Grugru ...... 52 Guava ...... 52 Gum ...... 53 Hibiscus...... 53 Hog plum ...... 54 Honeysuckle ...... 54 Honeysuckle Caoe ...... 55 Horse cassia ...... 55 Horse radish tree ...... 56 Jack plum ...... 56 Jamaican nettletree ...... 57 Jerusalem thorn ...... 57 Kannik ...... 58 Kola nut ...... 58 Kudjoe root ...... 59 L'angelin ...... 59 Lemon grass ...... 60 Liane-savon ...... 60 Lignum vitae ...... 61 Lime ...... 61 Liseron bleu ...... 62 Litchi ...... 62 Locus ...... 63 Loofah ...... 63 Lucky nut ...... 64 Madagascar jasmine ...... 64 Madras thorn ...... 65 Mahogany ...... 65

Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka 5 Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean Malay apple ...... 66 Maljoe...... 66 Manchineel ...... 67 Mango ...... 67 Maube bark ...... 68 Medecin plant ...... 68 Mesquite ...... 69 Monkey bush ...... 69 Moses-in-the-cradle ...... 70 Mother-in-law's tongue ...... 71 Mountain Cabbage ...... 71 Musk Ochra...... 72 Nim ...... 72 Noni ...... 73 Nutmeg ...... 73 Palmiste chou ...... 74 Pawpaw...... 74 Petrea ...... 75 Physic nut ...... 75 Pigeon berry ...... 76 Pigeon pea ...... 76 Pink poui ...... 77 Plantain ...... 77 Poinsettia ...... 78 Pois Doux ...... 78 Pomegranate ...... 79 Pomme malac...... 79 Pomme rose ...... 80 Port St. John creeper ...... 80 Prickly pear ...... 81 Prickly poppy ...... 81 Pride of India ...... 82 Princess flower ...... 82 Pudding bush ...... 83 Purple allamanda ...... 83 Rabbit meat ...... 84 Red ixora...... 84 Red mangrove ...... 85 Samann ...... 85

6 Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean Sand dragon ...... 86 Santa maria ...... 86 Sapodilla ...... 87 Sausage tree ...... 87 Scarlet cordia ...... 88 Seaside grapes ...... 88 Shaddock ...... 89 Showy combretum ...... 89 Silk cotton tree ...... 90 Sisal ...... 90 Skin-up ...... 91 Sleeping Hibiscus ...... 91 Slipper plant ...... 92 Small wild cucumber ...... 92 Soapberry ...... 93 Sorghum ...... 93 Sorrell ...... 94 Sour Orange ...... 94 Spider flower ...... 95 Star apple ...... 95 Star clusters ...... 96 Sticky cherry ...... 96 Sugar cane ...... 97 Surette ...... 97 Sweet orange...... 98 Sweet potato ...... 98 Sweet wood ...... 99 Sweetheart ...... 99 Tallow plum ...... 100 Teak ...... 100 Thyme ...... 101 Tobacco ...... 101 Tuberose...... 102 Tulip tree ...... 102 Turpentine tree ...... 103 Ven-Ven ...... 103 Wandering Jew ...... 104 West Indian Mimosa ...... 104 White cedar ...... 105

Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka 7 Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean White mangrove ...... 105 Wild Tobacco ...... 106 Wireweed ...... 106 Yellow (shade) Cassia ...... 107 Yellow Ader ...... 107 Yellow Flamboyante ...... 108 Yellow silk shell seed ...... 108 Zuti ...... 109

TABLE 1: GRENADA NECTAR SOURCES BY COMMON NAME ...... 110

TABLE 2: GRENADA NECTAR SOURCES BY VALUE ...... 127

TABLE OF FIGURES ...... 145

REFERENCES ...... 152

HISTORY OF BEES IN GRENADA It is believed that the honey bee was brought to Grenada in the year 1688. The German bee (Apis mellifera), referred to locally as Black Bees, was the species first introduced. The Italian variety was introduced in the 1940’s by beekeeper Aubrey Blackman of Sauteurs, St. Patrick, who imported bees from the Walter T. Kelley Company of the USA. Since then, beekeepers have been steadily importing queen bees, earlier from the USA mainland and lately from Hawaii. Most of these imports have been Italian varieties, but there have also been instances of other varieties (Starline, for example) being imported. One beneficial result of the importation of different varieties is that inter-breeding of bees in Grenada has occurred, resulting in hybrids which have proved to be highly productive. Initially, information on beekeeping was obtained through and from expatriates, particularly Roman Catholic priests serving in Grenada. Over the years more Grenadians got involved in beekeeping (Apiculture): some as commercial beekeepers, but the majority as hobbyists. As a result, the supply of local honey was on an intermittent basis. Of course, there were always persons who hunted bees in the wild and sold the honey collected. During that time, the industry grew very slowly as was to be expected. Five beekeepers are contributed with the initial interest in honey bees being shown on the island: Amir Salem, John Abraham, Paul Salem, Jacob Kanhigh, Aman Nyack, and Jimmy Beaulieu, respectfully. Most if not all of these men lived in the north of the island. More research needs to be done into their life and family histories of honey that are still alive in well in Grenada. (Kanhigh, T. September 28, 2016 personal communication.) In the 1990s, organizations such as the Agency for Rural Transformation (ART), the National Development Foundation (NDF) and, the Inter-American Institute for Co- operation on Agriculture (IICA) were very instrumental in transforming the industry and converting it into a more organized and business oriented operation. This is not in any way to be interpreted as a denigration of the role played by earlier beekeepers who over the years were responsible for the preservation of the skills involved in, and the existence of a bee industry. (Ermine, 2011) History of Grenada Association of Beekeeping

Formed in 1998, Grenada Beekeeping Association (GAB) was formed from fourteen young persons who took a 2-week beekeeping course organized by Inter- American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka 9 Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean

Initial funding came from Agency for Rural Transformation (ART) and the National Development Foundation (NDF). Until 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) also provided subvention and a technical officer from the Veterinary and Livestock Division of the MoA had been assigned full time to assist GAB members. They have a small office at the Ministry of Agriculture Extension sub-office in Grenville.

“Over the period 2002 to 2008, the number of registered beekeepers increased from twenty-seven to fifty-seven; the number of hives in use increased from 810 to 1710 units; and honey production increased from 13,324lb to 28,129lb. (These figures can be verified from official statistics.) Present estimates indicate that the number of hives has dropped to 1400, but the yield per colony has increased because of better beekeeping practices. This is mainly due to the efforts of GAB to improve the ability of beekeepers and to have beekeeping equipment and materials available at most times, and at reasonable costs to beekeepers.” (Thomas, Lewis, & Delsol, 2013)

Previously the association co-host the Caribbean Beekeeping Congress (2011), participated in World Food Day Celebrations (2009) and the week of Agriculture (2010) along with producing a GAB news bulletin (2009) but this has not been sustained. In the past, the Association ordered wood goods (hive & hive products) and equipment in mass, stored it in a container which sold it to beekeepers as needed. A small profit was made from resale of honey and goods. On April 1, 2011 became a registered incorporated body. Currently, and for the past 5 years, GAB has faced many challenges. First, the lack of subvention from the Ministry of Agriculture and the increase of tariffs on imports has made purchasing a bulk order of goods nearly impossible. Asa result, many beekeepers have started to import goods themselves (typically from Trinidad or the United States) or make them on the island. Since 2010, there has been a change of policy on the import of ‘breeder queens’ from outside of the island. This is still a challenge that is a topic of conversation between GAB and MoA presently and as of October 2015, 200+ queens have been purchased and brought in via GAB and MoA and purchased by beekeepers on the island.

DEFINITIONS Honey Honey is the natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature. 2.1.1 Blossom Honey or Nectar Honey is the honey which comes from nectars of plants. (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2001)

1 CAPPED HONEY ON THE TOP PORTION WHILE NECTAR IS ON THE BOTTOM UNCAPPED, PHOTO BY AUTHOR Therefore, by this definition feeding bees with sugar syrup to the point where they are able to have a surplus is not honey because it does not come from a flower or nectar source. Also in with sugar cane, the cane juice is sugar not nectar there for bees do not make honey with it. Honeydew Results from the liquid eliminated by certain groups of homopterous insects. (Malumphy, 1997) Typically from aphids or coccids (sucking insects) and will see this in years where there is high aphid or coccid population. Consistency is typically thicker and sweeter than honey. Nectar Nectar can be produced on all aerial parts of plants, attracts important animals to plants and forms the basis for honey production. (Lüttge, Beyschlag, Francis, & Cushman, 2012) In the hive is noted as uncapped in the cells, see example in Figure 1.

Pollen A plant sperm cell. i.e. The movement of pollen from the anther to the stigma is necessary for seed to form in the flowering plant. (Cameron & Craig, 2009) For bees pollen is protein for them, pollen ranges typically from low (10%) to high (25%) As long as honey bees are able to consume sufficient quantiles, they will be able to obtain the nutrients they require. (Somerville, 2005)

2 HONEY BEES WITH POLLEN ON BACK LEGS ENTERING A HIVE 3 POLLEN DRYING FROM GRENADA VIA AUTHOR 4 PROPOLIS ON THE UPPER LEFT OF THE FRAMES

Pollen seems to be one of the factors governing the initiation and maintenance of brood rearing; however, day length, pheromones, physical and chemical stimuli ad the commencement of nectar and pollen collection may also play an important role in the brood-rearing actives of the honey bee colonies

Drying Fresh Pollen Pellets. Fresh pellets collected from a pollen trap can be dried in the sun for a few days, in a warm oven, or with a lamp or food drier. Heat up to 120F (49C) for the first hour to kill yeast spores, then dry for 24 hours at 95 to 97F (35-36C). The pellets are ready when they do not crush when rolled between the fingers and do not stick to each other when squeezed. Store them in closed containers at room temperature. (Sammataro, Avitabile, & Caron, 2011) Propolis Propolis or “bee glue” … Propolis is formed from resinous excretions of the buds and bark of trees and shrubs, which bees gather with their mandibles and transport to their nest or hive for various uses. (Ghisalberti, 1979) Bees use propolis to help seal up cracks and keeps the hive healthy due to its disinfection properties. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006) Propolis can be taken from latex of fruit and or resin from bark. Propolis also contains persistent lipophilic acaricides, a natural pesticide that deters mite infestations. (Wikipedia Contributors, 2016)

BEE PLANTS & HOW TO USE THE MANUAL

Please note that the information is compiled from literary sources, personal conversations and other local books. Not all information will be accurate but a starting point for information. For example, Star fruit might be more commonly used name in your region/village of Grenada. Please note that information and forward it on to me at [email protected] so I can update future editions of this booklet. In some plants, no further information is given other than honey bees visit the plant. The assumption is that are using it for something, but to figure that out takes lots of observations over time. The margins are based on printing the booklet double-sided and binding it on the left.

Copyright 2016 Megan Wannarka 13 Honey Bee Plants in Grenada, Eastern Caribbean Acajou-bois Cigar-box cedar | Cigar box wood, Barbados cedar, Cedar, Mexican cedar, Red cedar, Spanish cedar, Zwamp cedar, West Indian Cedar Cedrela odorata

2 DRIED SEED HEAD OF CEDRELA ODORATA VIA HERBARIO.UP.AC.PA 3 TREE & LEAVES OF CEDRELA ODORATA VIA KEYS.LUCIDCENTRAL.ORG

Very widely planted light timber tree in the tropics (Hawthorne et al 2005 p. 224) Nectar: Yes January February March April May June