Melissopalynological investigations on summer honey samples from Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh

A total of 19 summer honey samples from Indian honey bee, Apis cerana F. hives located in 18 different localities of Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh were studied. The pollen samples were acetolysed and identified microscopically. The melissopalynological analysis of these samples yielded 81 pollen taxa: of these twelve pollen types were predominant as pollen sources; and 42 were secondary and 70 were important minor and minor sources. These were observed distributed in over 40 plant families comprising of trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers and grasses. Based on pollen analysis, eleven honey samples were identified as unifloral, and eight classifieds as multifloral. The predominant pollen types were Grewia optiva, Citrus sp., Moringa oleifera, Mangifera indica, Sapindus mukorosii, Eucalyptus sp., Syzygium cumini, Brassica campestris, Trifolium sp., Robinia pseudoacacia, Malus domestica and Prunus sp. Besides entomophilous, anemophilous pollen types from Chenopodium album, Psidium guajava, Zea mays, poaceous and euphorbiaceous members were also observed.