Morphological investigation of pollen consumed by honeybee, collected from Kermanshah province of Iran

Melissopalynology is an applied discipline in palynology science and referred to as the best method in recognizing the kind of honey and its pollen content. Identification of flower pollens will help us to research on honeybee, honey quality, the host preference of honeybees, providing the air pollen calendar, and to the identification of allergen pollens. For this purpose, flower pollens were collected based on pollen trapping, direct collection of pollen from Hives and collecting pollen from flowers in Kermanshah province including Kermanshah, Sarpole zahab, Sonqur,Sahneh, Dalaho and Pave county during winter to summer 2018. The samples were acetolyzed and microscopic specimens were prepared. Then, the morphological features of pollens were assessed by light microscope. The total 30 pollen were characterized, ranging from 19-114μm in diameter. The highest number and diversity of pollens were records during April and May. The most of pollens were belong to Apiaceae and Fabaceae families (different species of Astragalus) which mostly collected from cold regions of Kermanshah province. In warm regions, especially in the beginning of plant growing season, plants from Rosaceae and Brassicaceae were preferred by honeybees. In the summer season, sunflower in the Songor region was the main crop for providing pollen for honeybees. Based on these results, we can propose the best places to beekeepers to move their bee colonies for getting appropriate yield.

Keywords:

Honey , Melissopalynology , Palynology , Kermanshah