Pollen analysis of summer honeys from Kullu hills, Himachal Pradesh, India

This study presents the pollen contents of 11 honey samples procured from Indian honey bee, Apis cerana F. hives located from different localities of Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh. A diverse spectrum of 46 pollen taxa from 27 families was identified. Pollen analysis indicated that 42 came from nectariferous and 4 from nectarless plants. Six pollen types were present as predominant, 21 were secondary, while, 39 were important minor and minor pollen sources. Out of 11 honey samples analysed, 7 were unifloral, while, rest were multifloral. In the unifloral honeys, the predominant sporomorphs were: Wendlandia heynei (n = 1), Salix sp. (n = 1), Eucalyptus sp. (n = 1), Cedrela toona (n = 1), Brassica sp. (n = 1) and Robinia pseudoacacia (n = 2). Among different plant families Fabaceae (5), Asteraceae (3), Myrtaceae (3), Rosaceae (2), Amaranthaceae (2) and Cucurbitaceae (2) were highly contributed for nectar and pollen sources. Besides entomophilous, anemophilous pollen types were also observed, which were represented by Cannabis sativa, Chenopodium album, Plantago sp. and Juglans regia.