Macadamia

Value to bees

Nectar

High

Pollen

High

As a honey crop

Major honey crop — yields a surplus in good years

Which bees, and why

Honey bees are the principal commercial pollinator and stocking rates translate directly into nut set. In Australia, native stingless bees of the genus Tetragonula also pollinate macadamia effectively and are increasingly managed for the purpose — one of the clearest commercial roles for stingless bees anywhere.

Worth knowing

A good nectar and pollen source over a defined spring window.

Flowering

In flower

August to October (southern hemisphere)

Spring in the southern hemisphere, with flowering shifting accordingly in northern-hemisphere plantings.

When nectar flows

Substantial from a mature orchard, with hundreds of flowers on every raceme and many racemes per tree.

Year-to-year variation

Reliable where orchards are large. The honey is a secondary product; the primary economic relationship runs the other way, with growers paying for pollination services.

What it does to the honey

Dark amber, rich and buttery with a distinctly nutty, slightly caramelised character. It is one of the honeys whose flavour genuinely resembles its plant's fruit.

Growing it

Conditions

Frost-free subtropical conditions, deep well-drained soil, and shelter from wind. The shallow root system makes it vulnerable to drought and to being blown over.

Size

8-15 m tall, and pruned considerably lower in orchards.

Native range

The subtropical rainforests of southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales. Grown commercially in Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Hawaii, China and Central America.

Suits

Large gardens, Orchard

• Plant more than one cultivar; cross-pollination substantially increases nut set.
• Shelter from wind — the root plate is shallow and mature trees blow over.
• Grafted trees fruit in four to six years; seedlings take considerably longer.

What it looks like

A spreading evergreen tree with stiff, glossy, often prickle-edged leaves in whorls, and long pendulous racemes of hundreds of small cream or pink flowers hanging like catkins.