Micromorphological Insights Into Bee Flora Pollen Using Microscopy: Taxonomic Identification

The pollen types of bee flora visited by bees exhibit distinct characteristics that can be analyzed to identify the floral sources of honey. Micro-morphological parameters of pollen, including the sizes of shape and ornamentation, are linked to the mode of pollination. The purpose of this study was to describe the morpho-palynology of bee flora species surrounding apiary sites. Flowers containing bee-anthered flowers were acetolyzed, measured, and observed under a microscope. Thirteen qualitative and quantitative parameters of pollen were examined. The basic shape of the pollen grains was prolate-spheroidal, oblate-spheroidal, sub-prolate, oblate, and sub-oblate. In terms of size, the pollen grains were classified as very small, small to medium, or medium to large. Two different types of apertures were examined: tricolpate and hexacolpate. The polar axis diameter ranged from 13 to 37.7 µm, and the equatorial view distance ranged from 10.3 to 51.2 μm. Scabrate, micro-echinate, echinate, perforate, reticulate, reugulate, foveolate, verrucate, gemmate, micro-verrucate, striate, striate reticulate, coarsely reticulate, areolate, and micro reticulate types of exine sculpturing were observed. The exine thickness ranges from 1.5 µm in Cenchrus ciliaris to 7.4 µm in Bidens bipinnata. The results emphasize the importance of pollen morphology for the proper identification and characterization of melliferous species. It is a comprehensive contribution to pollen morphological description, advancing taxonomic knowledge of bee flora.