Caracterización del aporte polínico de especies arbóreas y arbustivas en tres muestras de miel procedentes de tres apiarios, ubicados en la provincia de Chimborazo.

Abstract

This research consisted on the characterization of the pollen contribution of arboreal and shrub species in three samples of honey from three apiaries located in the Province of Chimborazo. For this purpose the honey samples were collected in the cantons of Guano, Guamote and Chambo and in the laboratory phase the acetolysis method for honey samples was applied, with a micropipette help, the pollen sediment was placed in the Neubauer chamber and the Motic camera coupled to the microscope was used, then the pollen grains were identified by their shape and size using a virtual palynotescope and for the pollen grains counting, zigzag sweeps were made with a 40X objective magnification. The honeys were categorized according to the frequency class of Louveaux et al., 1978, which indicates that if they are >45% they are monofloral honeys and less than this percentage they are multifloral honeys. In the result for the three honey samples, a total of 30 botanical species distributed to recognize 19 families, being the Asteraceae and Fabaceae the ones with the highest number of species. Guano honey was classified as multifloral as it is composed of some species such as: Eucalyptus globulus (28.33%) and Ricinus communis (15.67%). The Guamote honey assumes a multifloral botanical origin due to the species Eucalyptus globulus (22%) and Ricinus communis (12%). Finally, the Chambo honey was classified as monofloral honey due to its high pollen content of the Eucalyptus globulus species (52%). It is important to continue with research on this subject in other places and times of the year that will allow us to know the floral preference of Apis mellifera and thus promote the establishment of a reference palynotes library in our country.