Pollen analysis of some Burkina Faso honey samples

ABSTRACT

Palynological analyses were carried out on 12 honey samples, with the aim of identifying the plants foraged by honeybee populations in six provinces of Burkina Faso. A total of 46 different pollen grains were identified at the species level, and 29 botanical families were reported. In the honey samples, the Fabaceae were the most representative botanical family with more than 11 different species, corresponding to 24% of the all examined pollen grains. The other common families were, respectively: Malvaceae (11%), Rubiaceae (9%), Poaceae (7%) and Combretaceae (7%). At species and genus level, Piliostigma thonningii (Schum.) Milne-Redh. (42%), Combretum type and Acacia type (42%), were the most frequently bee-visited plants, followed by Cochlospermum planchonii Hook. f. (33%) and Mitracarpus scaber Zucc. (33%). A total of five honey samples were considered as unifloral, and were derived from the following species: Lannea microcarpa Engl., Vitellaria paradoxa C. F. Gaertn., Cassia mimosoides L. and genus Combretum Loefl. The other seven honey samples were not comprised of a predominant pollen type and may be considered multifloral. Within these last, Piliostigma thonningii, Grewia bicolor Juss. and Detarium microcarpum Guill. & Perr. were well represented. The polylectic behaviour of Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille and the heterogeneous sources of forage were confirmed.

KEYWORDS:

• Pollen analysis
• melliferous plant
• Apis mellifera adansonii Latreille
• honey
• Burkina Faso

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The number of sample hives depended on the accessibility of sites during the different seasons, the time available to carry out the on-field research and the logistic difficulties linked to the unstable socio-political context of Burkina Faso after the terroristic attack which occurred at the beginning of 2016.

2. According to the forestry French classification, Forêt claire includes forest covers where the herbaceous stratum replaces undergrowth bushes.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are thankful to the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Cooperation (MAECI) for providing financial support to the research.