Botanical affinity of pollen harvested by Apis mellifera L. in a semi-arid area from Bahia,Brazil

We analysed the botanical composition of pollen harvested by Apis mellifera L. in the Canudos Biological Station, Bahia, Brazil, and the influence of climatic factors on pollen sample composition was assessed. Forty-six pollen types were identified belonging to species occurring in the study area. The family Leguminosae was of significant importance amongst the samples, represented by ten pollen types. Diodia radula, Rhaphiodon echinus, and Mimosa misera pollen types occurred most constantly among the samples. We observed that isolated pollen class characterises samples analysed. It was also observed that pollen type richness is directly linked to rainfall, reflecting the strong influence of this climatic parameter on flowering intensity, and thus on the ability of the bees to obtain food resources.     

澜沧江流域北部中华蜜蜂有毒蜂蜜孢粉学和营养生态位分析

为分析澜沧江流域北部人食用蜂蜜中毒的原因,于2013年6—9月份,对该区域蜜蜂和蜜源植物的分布情况进行了调查,观察蜜蜂采集有毒蜜源植物的行为,并进一步调查了蜜蜂巢内蜂蜜、蜂花粉的储存情况,采集了中华蜜蜂蜂蜜样品,进行蜂蜜孢粉学与营养生态位分析。该区域有大量采用传统方式进行人工饲养的中华蜜蜂(Apis cerana cerana),及少量野生中华蜜蜂、黑色小蜜蜂(Apis audreniformis)、黑色大蜜蜂(Apis laboriosa smith)群体分布;人工饲养的中华蜜蜂蜂巢内部结构与野生中华蜜蜂蜂巢相似,为自然蜂巢,内有充足的蜜粉储存,部分蜂群蜂巢内虫害严重。该区域内主要蜜源植物为荞麦(Fagopyrum esculentum Moench),其他零星辅助蜜源较多,部分地点南烛(Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb)、昆明山海棠(Tripterygium hypoglaucum(Levl.)Hutch)连片集中分布。对中华蜜蜂蜂蜜进行孢粉学和营养生态位分析,结果表明:中华蜜蜂蜂蜜标本中含有有毒蜜源植物南烛、昆明山海棠花粉,部分样品中南烛、昆明山海棠的花粉含所占比例较高;中华蜜蜂的营养生态位宽度为0.22,比其他地区中华蜜蜂生态位指数小,推测澜沧江水电枢纽的修建等人为原因已对蜜蜂种类、蜜源植物的物种组成、群落结构造成了较大影响。     

Pollen analysis of honeys from the northwest of Argentina: Province of Jujuy

The palynological characterisation of 157 honey samples from three northwest regions of Argentina (Prepuna, Yungas and Chaco) are presented to determine their botanical origin and species associations to be able to define their geographic origin. Samples were harvested during 2003–2011 and processed by means of melissopalynological conventional techniques. One-hundred and nine pollen types were identified. Representative pollen types with a frequency of occurrence greater than 50% in descending order of importance are: Salix humboldtiana, Allophylus edulis, Baccharis, Solanaceae, Eucalyptus, Schinus, Brassicaceae, Papilionoideae, Celtis, Scutia/Condalia-type and Parapiptadenia excelsa. The most important monofloral honeys are from the following: Salix humboldtiana, Scutia/Condalia-type, Allophylus edulis, Baccharis, Blepharocalyx salicifolius, Gleditsia amorphoides, Myrtaceae, Sicyos, Ziziphus mistol, Schinopsis-type, Agonandra excelsa, Anadenathera colubrina, Mimosa, all of them native species, and among introduced species are Eucalyptus, Citrus and Tithonia. Three apicultural zones and their corresponding pollen association indicators were determined: Zone I, Prepuna: Arquita trichocarpa, Prosopis ferox, Schinus areira, Baccharis, Buddleja and Mutisieae; Zone II, Yungas: Myrtaceae, Parapiptadenia excelsa, Baccharis, Salix humboldtiana, Allophylus edulis, Scutia/Condalia-type and Zanthoxylum coco; Zone III, transitional area Yungas-Chaco: Prosopis, Salix humboldtiana, Schinus, Anadenanthera colubrina and Allophylus edulis.     

Botanical origin and geographic differentiation of bee-pollen produced in high mountains from the Colombian eastern Andes

In the high mountains of the Colombian Eastern Cordillera (~2000–3000 m above sea level), at the Altiplano Cundiboyacense region and surroundings, beekeepers have specialised in pollen production with substantial harvests all year round. Despite this productive advantage, the knowledge about plants used by honeybees as pollen resources is still limited. Hence, the aim of this work was to identify the botanical origin of bee pollen from this region and to examine differences between five distinguished sub-regions: Sabana de Bogotá, Fúquene, Márquez, Tundama and Norte-Gutiérrez. By means of palynological analyses of 86 pollen samples produced between 2008 and 2010, we found a total amount of 126 pollen types, most of them belonging to the families Asteraceae and Fabaceae. Major pollen types correspond to the exotic taxa Hypochaeris radicata, Brassicaceae, Eucalyptus globulus, Trifolium repens, Trifolium pratense and the native taxa Quercus humboldtii and Weinmannia sp. Differences between sample groups from the five sub-regions were mainly associated to variations in pollen abundance and frequency of native plant species. This result highlights the potential for commercialising bee-pollen from the Colombian Eastern Cordillera with geographical origin differentiation, as well as the importance for beekeeping in promoting the conservation of the natural ecosystems from the region.     

Distribution of Castanea pollen in Galician honeys (NW Spain)

With the aim to know the importance of theCastanea pollen in the Galician honey(N. W. Spain), the interannual oscillations withinthe areas of production and the most activephenological period for bees, we have madethe melissopalynological analysis of: 599samples of honey collected during the period1990–1999 in Galicia, the production of 40beehives during three consecutive years(1990, 1991, 1992), the partial production during1990 of two beehives situated at distant pointsin our geography.     

Traditional melissopalynology integrated by multivariate analysis and sampling methods to improve botanical and geographical characterisation of honeys

Abstract

Melissopalynological analysis is the official test to determine the botanical and geographical origin of honey. Geographical characterisation is generally obtained by synthesising the pollen data of all available local honeys in a pollen spectrum interpreted according to palynological expertise. The subjective ability to interpret data is considered a limiting factor for this method and alternative tests are promoted. Nevertheless, melissopalynological analysis is still the most reliable test, and data, if properly exploited, could provide a large amount of information that is generally disregarded. The aim of our work was to apply a new experimental approach for honey sampling, and a statistical multivariate analysis of melissopalynological data. The study was conducted in the Sorrento-Amalfi Peninsula (southern Italy) where 36 hives were positioned in 12 experimental stations distributed in three main land-use types (citrus orchards, chestnut woods and Mediterranean maquis). The new approach proved to be useful for the comprehensive evaluation of honey variability across time and space, allowing objective identification of the pollen types as markers of a given geographical area.     

Pollen analysis of honey from the Baltic region,Estonia

The effect of varying weather conditions on the hourly number of airborne Cladosporium conidia was studied in forest environments during three summers. All factors having diurnal periodicity correlated significantly with the number of spores. Because of the great variation in weather and the interaction of weather factors, the most important factors were not the same for each summer. Temperature was important in each year. Relative humidity was most important in the first rainy summer, and precipitation was more important during the two drier summers than in the first summer. The maximum spore counts were obtained at the onset of rain, indicating the effectiveness of the first rain drops in detaching conidia. The amount of water precipitated also promoted the production of conidia, since it correlated positively with the number of spores in the air several hours later. Spore detachment also seemed to be closely related to decreases in relative humidity and increases in wind velocity which occurred in the morning. An increase in wind velocity from 0.5–1.0 m^?s increased the number of spores most effectively.     

Pollen analysis as a means to determine the geographical origin of royal jelly

In this study we investigated the use of pollen analysis as a method to determine the geographical origin of royal jelly. We recorded the pollen flora sampled by bees using pollen traps for two consecutive years and we also collected and examined royal jelly samples from the same apiary. For royal jelly production, bees mainly used the freshly collected pollen. All major pollen types that were recorded in the area using pollen traps were also detected in the royal jelly samples. Thus, pollen analysis can be used as a method to determine the geographical origin of royal jelly.     

The role of Mimosa L. (Fabaceae) on pollen provision of Melipona asilvai Moure 1971 in a Caatinga area from Brazil

The pollen spectrum of Melipona asilvai pollen samples, collected over the course of two years, was analysed with the objective of inferring the flora visited by this bee in a region of Caatinga in Bahia, Brazil. This study also evaluated the role of Mimosa species as a source of resources used by Melipona asilvai. Forty-eight pollen types, distributed in 22 families, were morphologically distinguished. The family Fabaceae was notable in the pollen spectrum, with 14 identified types. Mimosa was the most representative and found in all samples analysed, sometimes with high frequency. Mimosa tenuiflora had a 91.5% frequency of occurrence in the sample set and greatly contributed to the monthly samples with percentages over 95% in four of the months analysed. The other Mimosa pollen types identified were M. arenosa, M. quadrivalvis, M. misera and M. pudica. In addition, the Angelonia (Plantaginaceae) type in three samples and the Chamaecrista racemosa (Fabaceae) type in one sample had frequencies over 50% in the pollen spectrum. Other very frequent types in the sample set, occurring in more than 50% of the samples analysed, were the following: Melastomataceae, Solanum paniculatum (Solanaceae), Borreria verticillata (Rubiaceae) and Myrcia (Myrtaceae). Despite the variety of floral sources recorded, it was possible to identify the floral preference of this bee as Mimosa, indicating the importance of Mimosa species as a source of resources used by this bee.     

Characterisation of some monofloral Algerian honeys by pollen analysis

In order to contribute to the knowledge of monofloral honeys from northern Africa, a number of 116 honey samples were collected in three areas in the northern region of Algeria and analysed for their melissopalynological characteristics. Fifty-one of them proved to be monofloral and were mainly from four botanical sources: Eucalyptus spp., Hedysarum coronarium, Pimpinella anisum and Citrus spp. The honeys could be differentiated from honeys from neighbouring countries by the presence of specific associated pollen. Besides the main pollen species, the characteristic 12 pollen types in the four monofloral Algerian honeys in this study were: Acacia sp., Brassicaceae, Carduus sp., Centaurea sp., Convolvulus arvensis, Eucalyptus spp., Olea europaea, Papaver rhoeas, Pimpinella anisum, Trifolium spp., Rubus sp. and Vicia sp. Regional differences in the pollen composition were also observed. Characteristic associated pollen grains in the north-western region were Acacia sp., Brassicaceae, Carduus sp. and Centaurea sp., in the central north region Coriandrum sativum, Echium sp. and Trifolium spp. and in the north-eastern region Apiaceae.