Botanical origin of Apis pollen loads using colour, weight and pollen morphology data

Samples of commercially available bee pollen loads or pellets, denoted by common names and presenting several colours, were examined using pollen analysis in order to obtain their botanical and regional origin. Two grammes of each of the nineteen well-mixed samples, comprising of ca. 300 pellets, were used. Each sample was grouped into subsamples considering the colour of the loads that were weighed again. Pollen slides were prepared without the use of acetolysis. Thirteen samples presented a dominant pollen type of equal or more than the half of the sample’s weight. The dominant pollen loads may be monochromatic or polychromatic, and the identified pollen types were of Arecaceae, Baccharis , Brassicaceae, Crotalaria , Eupatorium , Myrcia , Mimosa scabrella and Piper . These taxa indicated that the samples proceeded from the South and Southeast regions in Brazil. The common names agreed with the scientific names only in three samples. In other samples they did not agree with the dominant pollen type. Pollen analysis, therefore, is a very useful technique for the exact identification of floral and regional pollen origin