Tropical and Subtropical Agroecosystems (May 2016)
PALYNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS FLORAL RESOURCES USED BY Apis mellifera L. (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) IN FOUR MUNICIPALITIES OF GUERRERO, MEXICO
Abstract
The complex interactions that exist between plants and animals that visit its flowers have always attracted interest. A a better understanding of the relationship between bees and flowers may be obtained by palynological work based on the recognition of each morpholocal type of pollen in honey samples and the load of pollen collected by bees. Thus the present research work was carried out to recognize flora of beekeeping interest and feeding habits of Apis mellifera L. based on the melisopalinological analysis of honey collection in four municipalities in the state of Guerrero: Teloloapan, Arcelia, Pedro Asencio Alquisiras and General Canuto A. Neri. We identified 14 families, 40 genera and 46 plant species. Botanical families with a greater diversity of species were Asteraceae, Leguminosae and Convolvulaceae. A total of 35 samples were collected in seven apiaries: The Bridge, The Cedars, brushes, Pochote, Curve, Large and Alcholoa Amates. Honey was classified based on their botanical origin, two samples were monofloral: "Brushes” and “Alcholoa", the remaining were classified as multifloral.
