Two varieties of bee are responsible for honey production in the UAE; the most popular is Apis mellifera, the common honey bee, and Apis florea, and the the Asiatic honey bee.

The bees can be found mainly in the mountainous areas of Fujairah, where they build their hives in trees and in caves. Local people harvest this wild honey, claiming hives they find in trees and caves by hanging up signs with their names on them. They try to boost production by leaving pots of sugar-water for the bee.

The short life is an almost continuous round of work and travel, as they are carted by their owners from one emirate to the next in pursuit of the flowering plants that provide the nectar they turn into honey.

Next stop would be Ras al Khaimah, in March, and after a summer spent harvesting the sidr trees of Shahama, the last of the honey is collected and the bees are repairing the damaged wax walls of their hives in preparation for hibernation.

The bees will remain in Shahama (a village near Abu Dhabi) until the beginning of January. Between February and April the bees will be divided up and distributed between RAK, Oman and Fujairah, taking advantage of the flowering simir trees, and by June 1 they will be returned to Shahama, for another summer of making sidr honey.