Floral Diversity of Pollen Collected by Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.) – Validation of the Chromatic Assessment Method

Abstract

Pollen collected from flowers by forager bees is the only natural protein source for the hive. This nutritional compound is fundamental for the nurse bee and brood development, and for the queen activity. Pollen has a strong influence on colony health. It is also known that the pollen quality, in terms of the amino acid profile and total protein content, varies significantly according to the floral origin. For this reason, the palynological diversity assessed in corbicular pollen is a good measure of the quality of the environment the bees live in, in terms of available food.

Keywords

• chromatic assessment
• corbicular pollen
• floral diversity
• honey bees
• palynological analysis
• pollen pellet colour