Winter pollen of the rock bee, apis dorsata, from mul tahsil, chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India

Background- Honey bees gather pollen and nectar from various plants. The nectar and pollen provide glucose and proteins essential for the development of honey bee body tissues. Analyzing the pollen collected reveals how faithfully the bees stick to specific plant species within a given floral community, which is why this study seeks to identify both the primary and secondary pollen sources for the Apis dorsata bee. Methods: Pollen loads were recovered directly from the sources in the specified area. The pollen grains of each pollen load were dispersed in 1 ml of glacial acetic acid and later on, subjected to acetolysis. Erdtman (1960) one slide was prepared for each pollen load and microscopically examined. Results: 70 pollen loads recovered directly from the honeycombs of Apis dorsata (Rock Bee) collected from February 2012 from Rajoili and Dongargao, Mul Tahsil of Chandrapur District of Maharashtra State, were analysed. 07 (10%) pollen loads were found to be Uniforal, 10 (14.28 %) bifloral and 53 (75.71%) multifloral. The Unifloral pollen loads contained 37 of Cajanus cajan, 11 of Capsicum annum, 31 of Hyptis suaveolens and 49 Prosopis juliflora and 32 of Tridax procumbens. The pollen of Prosopis juliflora was recovered from 49 (70%) of the total pollen loads studied. Conclusion: The study highlights Prosopis juliflora do the major pollen source and Cajanus cajan (Papillionaceae), Lathyrus sativus (Papillionaceae), Tridax procumbens ( Asteraceae), Hyptis suaveolens (Laminaceae), Prosopis juliflora (Mimosaceae), Blumea sp. (Asteraceae), Capparis grandis (Capparidaceae), Bidens Pilosa (Asteraceae) as fairly important sources of pollen of the honeybees during the winter period.