Honey-producing bee–pollen–vegetation relationships in the West Coast and Western Ghats of India

Abstract

The ecosystem services offered by honey-producing bees are highly significant for the fertilization of flowers to produce fruits and seeds. The pollen found on bees and in honeycombs and honey represents the type of vegetation visited by the bees. The pollen diversity of honeycombs built by four honey-producing bees of the west coast and Western Ghats of India was evaluated to identify the floral sources. A spectrum of 54 pollen types (belonging to 52 genera in 34 families) was identified on the west coast, while 94 pollen types (belonging to 73 genera in 41 families) were identified in the Western Ghats. The results show that the bees of the four species on the west coast visited a limited number of plant species to gather nectar but included a higher quantity of total pollen of specific plant species. In the Western Ghats, the same species of bees visited more plant species but obtained lower quantities of pollen of specific plant species. This study shows that the honey-producing bees of the west coast and the Western Ghats prefer multifloral nectar for the production of honey. Floral resources for honey-producing bees are more diverse in the Western Ghats than on the west coast of India. Such differences might influence the quality (physical and nutraceutical) of honey produced by the bees in different geographic regions.

The effect of land cover on the foraging behavior and pollen in the honey of the giant bee Apis dorsata in Sumatra

“…This result was supported by a high number of pollen taxa found in the honey from forestagriculture-dominated landscapes (FL) in Kerinci, which revealed more diversified pollen collected by the foraging honey bees with a total of sixteen pollen types (Figures 4B, 6C, D). Our result is concordant with the honey of A. dorsata produced in the more diverse vegetation of deciduous forests in Western Ghats, India, which contains a more diverse pollen type compared to the honey produced in less diverse vegetation in West Coast India (Hegde et al, 2023). No predominant pollen taxon was found in the FL Kerinci.…”

“…An experimental study of honey bee A. mellifera revealed that the amount and rate of pollen and nectar collection were positively correlated with the individual foraging experience of the bees (Klein et al, 2019). In addition, relationship analysis between the pollen contained in honey and vegetation types in the West Coast (WC) and Western Ghats (WG), India, revealed that floral resources also affected pollen concentration in honey (Hegde et al, 2023). Apis indica honey from the more diverse vegetation of the WG, showed a higher pollen concentration compared to those from the WC, which has less diverse vegetation (Hegde et al, 2023).…”

“…In addition, relationship analysis between the pollen contained in honey and vegetation types in the West Coast (WC) and Western Ghats (WG), India, revealed that floral resources also affected pollen concentration in honey (Hegde et al, 2023). Apis indica honey from the more diverse vegetation of the WG, showed a higher pollen concentration compared to those from the WC, which has less diverse vegetation (Hegde et al, 2023). In contrast, A. dorsata and A. florea honey from the less diverse vegetation of WC contained a higher pollen concentration compared to those from more diverse vegetation of WG.…”

Characterization of the Coastal Vulnerability in Different Geological Settings: A Comparative Study on Kerala and Tamil Nadu Coasts Using FuzzyAHP

“…The east coast is sandy and the west coast is more or less rocky, which further indicates that the east coast of India is more vulnerable to coastal processes, whereas the western coastal regions are somewhere still rigid to coastal forcing [17]. Apart from different geological settings, the west coast and the Western Ghats are home to many endangered species of flora and fauna [33,34]. At the same time, the east coast of the study area has heavy commercial and economic activities because of the presence of ports and large cities along and near the coast [35].…”