Seasonal variation in vegetation and pollen collected by honeybees in Thessaloniki, Greece

Figures & data

Figure 1 Average number of pollen types that the colonies collected in Thessaloniki during two apicultural periods(pollen abundance to the total weight).

Figure 2 Weight(g) and foraging period of major pollen types collected by the honeybee colonies in Thessaloniki in 2003 and 2004. A. Sisymbrium irio; B. Papaver rhoeas; C. Carduus – Type; D. Polygonum aviculare.

Table I. Overall total pollen type, foraging period and weight (%) of the collected pollen on average from the colonies in Thessaloniki during 2003 and 2004.

Family	Pollen type	Foraging period	Abundance
Aceraceae	Acer negundo	March–April	<1%
Actinidiaceae	Actinidia chinensis	May	<1%
Amaranthaceae	Amaranthus albus	September–October	<1%
Anacardiaceae	Pistacia vera	March–April	<1%
Apiaceae	Daucus carota	August	<1%
	Malabaila graveolens	May–June	1.5%
	Pimpinella peregrina	May	1.4%
	Scandix pecten‐veneris	April	<1%
Araliaceae	Hedera helix	September–November	1.9%
Asteraceae	Anthemis ‐Type	July	<1%
	Calendula arvensis	June–May	<1%
	Carduus pycnocephalus	August–October	<1%
	Carduus ‐Type	April–June	3.1%
	Centaurea diffusa	August–September	<1%
	Centaurea sp.	June	<1%
	Maticaria chamomilla	March–April	<1%
	Chrysanthemum ‐Type	May	<1%
	Chrysanthemum ‐Type 2	October–November	<1%
	Cichorium intybus	July–August	1.5%
	Helianthus annuus	August	<1%
	Inula viscosa	October–November	<1%
	Senecio vulgaris	June	<1%
	Silybum marianum	April–June	<1%
	Sonchus spp.	July–November	1.7%
	Taraxacum officinale	March–June	1.8%
	Tragopogon ‐Type	June	<1%
Bignoniaceae	Campsis radicans	September	<1%
Boraginaceae	Heliotropium dolosum	August–September	<1%
Brassicaceae	Capsella bursa‐pastori	April	<1%
	Sinapis ‐Type	June	<1%
	Sisymbrium irio	March–June & August–November	20.1%
Caprifoliaceae	Lonicera caprifolium	May–June	<1%
	Viburnum tinus	March–April	<1%
Caryophyllaceae	Stellaria media	March	<1%
Chenopodiaceae	Chenopodium sp.	August–September	1.5%
Cistaceae	Cistus sp.	May	<1%
	Helianthemum chamaecistus	August–September	<1%
Cucurbitaceae	Ecballium elaterium	August–November	<1%
Cupressaceae	Cupressus sp.	March	<1%
Convolvulaceae	Convolvulus arvensis	July–October	<1%
Cyperaceae	Cyperus sp.	August–September	<1%
	Cyperus ‐Type	August	<1%
Dipsacaceae	Cephalaria transylvanica	July–September	<1%
	Scabiosa atropurpurea	July–August	<1%
Ericaceae	Erica manipuliflora	September–November	1.8%
Euphorbiaceae	Chrozophora tinctoria	July–August	<1%
	Euphorbia sp.	April	<1%
Fabaceae	Acacia cyanophylla	June–July	<1%
	Albizia julibrissin	June	<1%
	Anthyllis sp.	May	<1%
	Lotus corniculatus	June	<1%
	Sophora japonica	July–August	<1%
	Trifolium repens ‐Type	May	1.7%
	Trifolium sp. 1	May	<1%
	Trifolium sp. 2	July	<1%
	Vicia sp.	July	<1%
Geraniaceae	Erodium malacoides	March–April	<1%
	Geranium sp. 1	June–July	<1%
	Geranium sp. 2	June–July	<1%
Hippocastanaceae	Aesculus hippocastaneum	May	<1%
Juglandaceae	Juglans nigra	April	<1%
Lamiaceae	Lamium amplexicaule	March–April	<1%
	Ocimum basilicum	October	<1%
Lauraceae	Laurus nobilis	April–May	1.2%
Liliaceae	Allium cepa	May	<1%
	Allium ‐Type	October	1.7%
	Gladiolus ‐Type	June	<1%
	Phoenix ‐Type 1	May	<1%
	Phoenix ‐Type 2	September–October	<1%
Lythraceae	Lagerstroemia indica	August–September	<1%
	Lythrum salicaria	July	<1%
Malvaceae	Gossypium hirsutum	June–October	<1%
	Hibiscus syriacus	July–August	<1%
Meliaceae	Melia azedarach	May	<1%
Myrtaceae	Myrtus communis	July	<1%
Elaeagnaceae	Elaeagnus angustifolia	May	<1%
Oleaceae	Ligustrum lucidum	June–July	<1%
	Olea europaea	May–June	2.3%
Onagraceae	Epilobium hirsutum	June	<1%
Palmae (Arecaceae)	Chamaerops humilis	April–May	<1%
Papaveraceae	Fumaria officinalis	April–June	<1%
	Hypecoum sp.	April	<1%
	Papaver rhoeas	April–June	10.7%
Pinaceae	Pinus halepensis	April	<1%
Pittosporaceae	Pittosporum tobira	April	<1%
Plantaginaceae	Plantago major	August–September	<1%
Plumbaginaceae	Limonium sp.	September–October	<1%
Poaceae	Zea mays	July–September	3.9%
Polygonaceae	Fagopyrum esculentum	June	<1%
	Polygonum aviculare	August–October	3.2%
	Rumex pulcher	June	<1%
Portulacaceae	Portulaca oleracea	July–October	1.6%
Ranunculaceae	Adonis annua	April–May	1.1%
	Ranunculus sp.	April	<1%
Resedaceae	Reseda lutea	April–May	2.6%
Rhamnaceae	Paliurus spina‐christi	May	<1%
Rosaceae	Cydonia japonica	March–April	<1%
	Prunus amygdalus	March	<1%
	Prunus avium	April	<1%
	Prunus cerasus	April	<1%
	Prunus persica	April	<1%
	Prunus pissardi	March–April	<1%
	Prunus sp.	April	<1%
	Pyrus pyraster	April–May	1.2%
	Rubus ulmifolius	June–November	2.2%
Rubiaceae	Galium aparine	April	<1%
Rutaceae	Citrus trifoliata	May	<1%
Sapindaceae	Koelreuteria paniculata	June–July	<1%
Scrophulariaceae	Verbascum sp.	June–July	4.1%
	Verbascum ‐Type	October	<1%
	Veronica cymbalaria ‐Type	April	<1%
	Veronica persica	March–April	<1%
Solanaceae	Lycium europaeum	March	<1%
Tamaricaceae	Tamarix smyrnensis	April & September–October	<1%
Tiliaceae	Tilia intermedia	June	<1%
Violaceae	Viola kitaibeliana	April	<1%
Vitaceae	Parthenocissus inserta	June	<1%
	Vitex agnus‐castus	September	<1%
	Vitis vinifera	May	1.1%
Zygophyllaceae	Tribulus terrestris	July–September	1.1%
	Unidentified (22)	March–November	<1%

Figure 3 Average number of taxa in bloom in the area around the apiary during two apicultural periods[population size according to Wittig's (1993) scale].

Table II. Number of taxa located in the area and pollen types collected by the honeybees during 2003 and 2004.

Family	On‐field recorded taxa	Pollen types	Common types*
Aceraceae	1	1	1
Actinidiaceae	1	1	1
Amaranthaceae	1	1	1
Anacardiaceae	1	1	1
Apiaceae	9	4	3
Apocynaceae	2	–	–
Araliaceae	1	1	1
Asteraceae	32	17	13
Berberidaceae	1	–	–
Bignoniaceae	1	1	1
Boraginaceae	3	1	1
Brassicaceae	4	3	2
Calycanthaceae	1	–	–
Caprifoliaceae	4	2	2
Caryophyllaceae	2	1	1
Chenopodiaceae	2	1	1
Cistaceae	–	2	–
Clusiaceae	1	–	–
Convolvulaceae	1	1	1
Cupressaceae	2	1	1
Cucurbitaceae	1	1	1
Cyperaceae	1	2	1
Dipsacaceae	2	2	2
Ericaceae	1	1	1
Euphorbiaceae	3	2	2
Fabaceae	23	9	7
Fagaceae	1	–	–
Geraniaceae	3	3	3
Hippocastanaceae	1	1	1
Juglandaceae	1	1	1
Lamiaceae	6	2	1
Lauraceae	1	1	1
Liliaceae	3	5	1
Lythraceae	2	2	2
Malvaceae	4	2	2
Meliaceae	1	1	1
Myrtaceae	1	1	1
Oleaceae	6	3	3
Onagraceae	1	1	1
Oxalidaceae	1	–	–
Palmae	1	1	1
Papaveraceae	3	3	3
Pinaceae	1	1	1
Pittosporaceae	1	1	1
Plantaginaceae	1	1	1
Plumbaginaceae	1	1	–
Poaceae	9	1	1
Polygonaceae	3	3	2
Portulacaceae	1	1	1
Primulaceae	2	–	–
Ranunculaceae	5	2	2
Resedaceae	1	1	1
Rhamnaceae	2	1	1
Rosaceae	21	9	9
Rubiaceae	2	1	1
Rutaceae	1	1	1
Sapindaceae	1	1	1
Saxifragaceae	1	–	–
Scrophulariaceae	3	4	3
Simaroubaceae	1	–	–
Solanaceae	1	1	–
Tamaricaceae	1	1	1
Tiliaceae	1	1	1
Urticaceae	1	–	–
Verbenaceae	1	–	–
Violaceae	1	1	1
Vitaceae	3	3	3
Zygophyllaceae	1	1	1
Unidentified	–	22	–
Total	204	142	100
*As “common types” were characterised the taxa that were classified to the same species or genus.

Wittig , R. 1993 . “ Flora and vegetation. ” . In Stadtökologie , Edited by: Sukopp , H and Wittig , R . 198 – 238 . Stuttgart/Jena/New York : G. Fisher .

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