In the Indian context, rubber honey is relatively under-exploited compared to the other by-products of rubber plantations, such as rubber wood and rubber seed. The rubber tree is a prolific source of honey which is obtained from the extra floral nectaries at the tip of the petiole where the leaflets join. The honey flow period ranges from January to March. As per the specifications of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) rubber honey is classified as medium grade (grade A) with an average moisture content of 22 per cent.

The importance of rubber plantations as a source of honey in India is evident from the fact that rubber honey from the traditional rubber growing regions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu together accounted for about 45 per cent of the total production of honey from the apiary sources until 1991 with a physical volume of around 4000 tonnes.

The common bee species used for commercial bee keeping in rubber plantations was the indigenous variety Apis Cerana Indica. An outbreak of Thai Sacbrood disease during 1992-93 almost completely destroyed the indigenous beehives and consequently the share of rubber honey declined to 10 per cent of the total apiary honey production in India.

The subsequent introduction of the disease resistant and high yielding Italian species Apis Mellifera plus the promotional activities of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) of the Government of India and other voluntary associations together with the gradual disease resistance attained by Indian bees are factors which have contributed to the recovery of the rubber honey sector recently.

The estimated production of rubber honey during 1995-96 was 1000 tonnes. The estimated yield of the Italian bee is 60 kg/hive compared to only 12.1 kg/hive for the Indian bee, although the establishment cost is relatively higher for Italian hives. Experimental trials have indicated that 15 hives of Apis Cerana Indica can be maintained in a hectare of rubber plantation with a potential production of 182 kg/ha. The mature rubber plantations of India extending to 3.73 lakh hectares has the potential to produce 67,886 tonnes of rubber honey annually and the current extent of exploitation amounts to only 1.33 per cent of the potential.

The major consuming sectors of rubber honey are the ayurvedic drug manufacturing industry, bakeries and confectioneries. The estimated annual net income from bee keeping in rubber plantations is Rs 5000/ha.