Journal of Environment and Sociobiology

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Melissopalynological Studies on Multifloral Honeys from Arambagh Region of Hooghly District, West Bengal


Affiliations
1 Department of Botany, Asutosh College, 92, S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700026, West Bengal, India
     

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Pollen grains are important constituent of honey and are collected by the honey bees during forage to blossoms. The characterization and identification of pollen grains from honey samples are of great importance for its quantitative and qualitative assessment. For melissopalynological analysis the honey samples were collected from the investigated regions. The collected samples were acetolysed and pollen grains were studied by optical microscopy. The flowering vegetation of this region was surveyed and the flowering period was recorded. The honey samples investigated are of multifloral sources. Twenty three dominant pollen morphotypes were identified from the honey samples. The identified pollen morphotypes are of Acacia nilotica, Alstonia scholaris, Anisomeles indica, Azadirachta indica, Blumea lacera, Borassus flabellifer, Brassica campestris, Butea monosperma, Carica papaya, Chenopodium album, Eucalyptus citriodora, Hygrophila phlomoides, Litchi chinensis, Mangifera indica, Moringa oleifera, Murraya paniculata, Ocimum canum, Pongamia pinnata, Salvia sp., Sesamum indicum, Syzygium cumini, Thevetia peruviana and Zizyphus mauritiana. The bee specimens identified form the hives were Apis dorsata, Apis cerana indica and Apis mellifera. The pollen grains are mostly tricolporate with reticulate exine ornamentation. The aim of this study is to establish the plant species flowering in the foraging area with the pollen morphotypes identified from honey samples.

Keywords

Melissopalynology, Multifloral Honey, Honey Bee, Pollen Morphotypes.
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  • Melissopalynological Studies on Multifloral Honeys from Arambagh Region of Hooghly District, West Bengal

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Authors

Pradyut Biswas
Department of Botany, Asutosh College, 92, S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700026, West Bengal, India

Abstract


Pollen grains are important constituent of honey and are collected by the honey bees during forage to blossoms. The characterization and identification of pollen grains from honey samples are of great importance for its quantitative and qualitative assessment. For melissopalynological analysis the honey samples were collected from the investigated regions. The collected samples were acetolysed and pollen grains were studied by optical microscopy. The flowering vegetation of this region was surveyed and the flowering period was recorded. The honey samples investigated are of multifloral sources. Twenty three dominant pollen morphotypes were identified from the honey samples. The identified pollen morphotypes are of Acacia nilotica, Alstonia scholaris, Anisomeles indica, Azadirachta indica, Blumea lacera, Borassus flabellifer, Brassica campestris, Butea monosperma, Carica papaya, Chenopodium album, Eucalyptus citriodora, Hygrophila phlomoides, Litchi chinensis, Mangifera indica, Moringa oleifera, Murraya paniculata, Ocimum canum, Pongamia pinnata, Salvia sp., Sesamum indicum, Syzygium cumini, Thevetia peruviana and Zizyphus mauritiana. The bee specimens identified form the hives were Apis dorsata, Apis cerana indica and Apis mellifera. The pollen grains are mostly tricolporate with reticulate exine ornamentation. The aim of this study is to establish the plant species flowering in the foraging area with the pollen morphotypes identified from honey samples.

Keywords


Melissopalynology, Multifloral Honey, Honey Bee, Pollen Morphotypes.

References