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

Comparison of phenological, aerobiological and melissopalynological patterns of Olea europaea

“…Although there was not always statistically significant relevance between the number of open flowers and the amount of the collected pollen loads on the key dates of the flowering season, the start (and the end) of olea pollen collection by the honeybees was no more than 2 days apart from the start (respectively end) of flowering, in both years of the measurements. Previous studies have showed that there is a timing correlation between the pollen collection by honeybees and the flowering period (Andrada and Telleria, 2005;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007). Moreover, honeybees collect food only from a restricted area around the hive (Visscher and Seeley, 1982;Ekert, 1993;Steffan-Dewenter and Tscharntke, 1999).…”

“…Although honeybees collect pollen mainly from entomophilous plants, they also collect pollen from several anemophilous plants in significant amounts (Severson and Parry, 1981;Coffey and Breen, 1997;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007). Olea pollen has been recorded in many apicultural and aerobiological studies in the Mediterranean (Ricciardelli d'Albore and Battaglini Bernardini, 1978;Diaz-Losada et al, 1998;Grau et al, 2000;Galán et al, 2001;Sa-Otero et al, 2002;Terrab et al, 2003Terrab et al, , 2004.…”

“…Pollen traps have been used in several studies to record the diet of the bees (Severson and Parry, 1981;Pearson and Braiden, 1990;Telleria, 1993;Coffey and Breen, 1997;Webby, 2004;Andrada and Telleria, 2005;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007). Yet, few studies have compared the honeybee collected pollen to the flowering phenology of the plants in an area (Andrada and Telleria, 2005;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007).…”

“…Yet, few studies have compared the honeybee collected pollen to the flowering phenology of the plants in an area (Andrada and Telleria, 2005;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007).…”

“…Olea pollen has been recorded in many apicultural and aerobiological studies in the Mediterranean (Ricciardelli d'Albore and Battaglini Bernardini, 1978;Diaz-Losada et al, 1998;Grau et al, 2000;Galán et al, 2001;Sa-Otero et al, 2002;Terrab et al, 2003Terrab et al, , 2004. Since both aerobiological and melissopalynological studies in Thessaloniki, Greece have demonstrated that olea is one of the dominant pollen types (Gioulekas et al, 2004a, b;Damialis et al, 2007;Dimou and Thrasyvoulou, 2007), this taxon was considered as the most suitable for the purpose of this study.…”