INVESTIGATING POLLEN PELLETS AND HONEY SAMPLE FROM AN APIARY IN IBADAN, SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

P. A. Adeonipekun

Palynology/Palaeobotany Unit, Department of Botany

University of Lagos, Nigeria,

p1adeonipekun@yahoo.com and aadeonipekun@unilag.edu.ng

ABSTRACT

To further characterise Nigerian honey samples and bee pollen pellets, three modern beehives in an apiary at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture {IITA} Ibadan were studied. Pollen pellets and a sample of the produced honey were palynologically studied. Pollen from 43 species of plants belonging to 24 families was recovered from the pellets and honey sample studied. Within the first two months of collection, 24 species were recorded for the pellets, out of which only nine were recovered from the honey sample analysed. Size seems significant in determining which pollen grains are found in honey samples even though they are abundantly collected by bees. The average size of pollen grains found in the honey sample in this study is 47.2 μm while that in pollen pellets is 96.14 μm. This size differential may mean that the larger pollen might have been destroyed through the sieving and other production processes or possibly as a consequence of the bees’ digestive process. The pollen of Elaeis guineensis, Tridax procumbens, Nymphaea lotus, Combretum spp. and Chromolaena odorata were the commonest in the pollen pellets. The results obtained here are comparable with those from others who have carried out similar studies.

KEY WORDS: Apiary, Honey Bees, Pollen Pellets, and Honey Pollen.