Wild Forest Honey variety · Bee-source type
Apis florea (Little/Dwarf Bee) Honey
Also known as Little Bee Honey, Dwarf Bee Honey, Red Bee Honey
Small open-comb nests in shrubs and low trees across South Asia — India (particularly South India), Thailand, Sri Lanka; 7–10 mm in body length
Rare, esteemed in Indian traditional medicine; very limited availability; harvested by hand-collection from wild nests. Produces only 300–450 grams per colony annually, making commercial viability impossible.
Key facts
| Type | Bee-source type |
|---|---|
| Origin | Small open-comb nests in shrubs and low trees across South Asia — India (particularly South India), Thailand, Sri Lanka; 7–10 mm in body length |
| Parentage | Apis florea (world's smallest honeybee, never domesticated for commercial production, migratory species) |
| Yield | Minimal; small colonies produce only 300–450 grams annually; not commercially viable; wild-harvest only |
| Tolerance | Wild, non-domesticable; sensitive to habitat loss and forest disturbance; migratory species that abandons nests if disturbed |
| Distinctive features | Light golden, delicate; very high water content (may exceed 25%); higher natural acidity than larger bee honeys; distinctive aromatic profile |
| Grown in | South India (especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu), primarily wild populations; also found across South Asia |
| Also known as | Little Bee Honey, Dwarf Bee Honey, Red Bee Honey |
Figures are indicative, compiled from public agricultural sources (ICAR institutes, State Agricultural Universities, the Spices Board and the National Innovation Foundation) and vary with soil, season and management. Confirm with your local package of practices.
Apis florea (Little/Dwarf Bee) Honey in detail
Apis florea honey is a rare wild honey from India's smallest honeybee, hand-collected from open, single-comb nests built in shrubs and low tree branches across South Asia.
Origin & story
Apis florea, the little or red dwarf honeybee, is a small red-brown bee about 7-10 mm in body length, native to South and Southeast Asia, including India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka. It builds a single exposed comb on a shrub or tree branch rather than nesting in cavities. Its honey has long been gathered from the wild in parts of its range and is esteemed in Indian traditional medicine, but it has never been a domesticated or commercial bee.
How it grows
Apis florea is a wild, migratory bee that builds small, open single-comb nests in shrubs and low tree branches; it is not domesticated. Honey is gathered by hand-collection from wild nests, in places such as Tamil Nadu and the Western Ghats, by skilled honey hunters using traditional methods. Yields are very low, around 300-450 grams per colony per year, which makes commercial beekeeping with this species impractical.
Quality & character
Light golden and delicate. One comparative study of stored Apis florea honey reported a moisture content of about 13.7%, with higher acidity (around 98.4 meq/kg; pH about 4.4) than Apis mellifera honey, along with glucose near 36.3%, fructose near 33.8%, sucrose near 2.9%, and ash near 1.2%. It carries a distinctive aromatic profile from the wild forest blooms the bees forage.
Why it matters to buyers
Apis florea honey is available only in wild-harvested, artisanal form; there is no commercial domestication. Its rarity and hand-harvesting push the price well above standard honey, and small volumes make sourcing challenging and seasonal. It is valued within traditional Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine. Its composition differs from Apis mellifera and Apis cerana honeys, and these differences in floral and bee origin can be detected through honey DNA metabarcoding.
About wild forest honey
Honey's character flows from two paths: the flowers bees visit and the bees themselves. A single forest bloom—jamun, neem, eucalyptus—stamps a monofloral honey with unmistakable colour, taste, and crystallisation rhythm; a wild polyfloral like Western Ghats forest honey collects the season's entire flowering calendar into one comb. Across India, Apis…
Live market rate
Today's wild forest honey price
See the latest wild forest honey rate, daily range and recent trend from verified mandi & auction sources.
Other wild forest honey varieties
From the Western Ghats
Buy clean, graded wild forest honey from AroWest
AroWest is the spice & aromatics label of Western Crest Ventures LLP — hand-cleaned, sorted, sealed and traceable harvests from Idukki and the wider Western Ghats. Registered LLP · Udyam (MSME) · FSSAI · GST.