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A key aspect of beekeeping is understanding the plants that grow around apiaries and determining which ones will be beneficial to bees. These plants are called honey plants because bees obtain nectar from their flowers, which they then convert into honey for various tasks in the hive. Despite Panama's high diversity of flowering plants, very little research has been done on honey plants. Therefore, the objective of this study was to understand the honey plants associated with the apiary of the Experimental Farm of the Agricultural Research Institute (IDIAP), located in Buena Vista, Colón province, in a stubble cover. The methodology consisted of weekly sampling (collections) of flowering plants during peak bee foraging hours (8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) along a linear transect 90 m long and 1 m wide. The collected plants were photographed, identified, and compared at the University of Panama Herbarium. As a result of this study, 23 species were identified, distributed across 23 genera and 14 families. The most representative families, according to the number of individuals, were: Asteraceae (4 species) (Baltimora recta, Emilia sonchifolia, Melanthera nivea, Synedrella nodiflora), Fabaceae (4 species) (Centrosema pubescens, Erythrina fusca, Mimosa pudica, Senna pallida), Malvaceae (2 species) (Luehea seemannii, Sida acuta), Anacardiaceae (2 species) (Anacardium excelsum, Spondias mombin), and Acanthaceae (2 species) (Ruellia blechum, Justicia secunda). The herbaceous habit represented 38%, the tree habit 26%, the shrub habit 22%, and the vine habit 13%. This study also provides valuable information on the flowering periods of the identified honey-producing species. Without a doubt, this study revealed a diversity of plants with honey-producing potential that should be conserved long-term.
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