Melliferous plants

Melliferous plants, apicultural plants, mellitophilous plants… all these terms refer to plants that are of interest to bees. But what do they really mean, and which term is the most appropriate?

The most common term is certainly “melliferous”, which generally refers to plant species that are visited by bees and whose products are useful to them.

With regard to plants, the Larousse dictionary gives the following definition: “said of a plant that produces a sap from which bees make honey”.

Etymologically, the word means “bearing honey”, from the Latin mel = honey and ferre = to carry. In reality, however, plants do not bear honey; they bear nectar, which is then transformed by bees into honey once they return to the hive. One should therefore rather speak of “nectariferous” plants, that is, plants that bear nectar.

Very often, “melliferous” is also used to designate pollen-producing plants, which is inaccurate in light of what has been said above. In this case, one should instead speak of “polliniferous” plants, that is, plants that bear pollen.

What about plants that produce honeydew? And propolis? As there are no specific terms commonly used, one could simply call them apicultural plants, a term that fits perfectly with all the other cases mentioned above.
As for “mellitophilous”, it contains the root “phil-”, from the Greek philos = friend. In the definition of a plant, this makes little sense, since it is not the plant that loves honey…

Whichever term is used, one understands what is meant, and that is the most important thing. One can continue to speak of melliferous plants in a general sense and, if greater precision is desired, use the more specific terms.

And what about the bees in all this? Are they melliferous, mellific, or mellitophilous? With regard to them, the Larousse dictionary gives the following definition of “melliferous”: “said of an insect that produces honey”. But since bees only “make” honey once they have returned to the hive after foraging, it cannot be said that they are melliferous, as they transport nectar – or honeydew – and not honey. One could therefore say that they are nectariferous and even polliniferous… What is certain, however, is that they are mellific (from the Latin facere = to make) and unquestionably mellitophilous!