Palynological characterisation of autumn honeys from Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh, India

Based on qualitative and quantitative melissopalynological analysis, 17 autumn honeys collected from Indian honey bee, Apis cerana F. hives located different localities of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh were classified by botanical origin to determine their floral sources. All the samples were acetolysed and identified microscopically. A diverse spectrum of 77 pollen taxa from 38 families was identified. The melissopalynological analysis yielded that in honey samples, 4 pollen types were present as predominant source; 36 as secondary sources and 39 were important minor pollen sources. In the unifloral honeys, the predominant pollen types were: Salvia officinalis, Eriobotrya japonica, Impatiens balsamina and Plectranthus sp. Besides entomophilous, anemophilous pollen types were also observed, which were represented by Chenopodium album, Pinus sp., Polygonum sp., Zea mays, Rumex spp., Poaceous and Polygonaceous members. Bee-favoured families included Asteraceae (9 members), Rosaceae (8), Fabaceae (4), Lamiaceae (3), Malvaceae (3), Apiaceae (2), Amaranthaceae (2), Polygonaceae (2) and Brassicaceae (1). The absolute pollen count (i.e., the number of pollen grains per 10 g honey sample) suggested that honey samples belonged to Group I (<20,000 pollen grains), Group II (20,000–100,000), and to Group III (100,000–500,000) formed by International Commission for Plant Bee Relationships.