J. APIC. SCI. Vol. 58 No. 2 2014 11 POLLEN FORAGING BY HONEY BEES (APIS MELLIFERA L.) IN GREECE: BOTANICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN Maria Dimou* Chrysoula Tananaki Vasilios Liolios Andreas Thrasyvoulou Abstract Pollen is very important for honey bee colony development and nutrition. It is also a val- uable product for human consumption, considered to have high nutritional value. In this study, we performed melissopalynological analysis of 285 pollen load samples collected from 44 apiaries throughout Greece. The analysis revealed 229 plant taxa represented in total. The abundance of each pollen type varied among the geographical areas from which the samples were collected. We also observed variation among samples collected from the same geographical region. The most frequently found families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Rosaceae. The most frequently observed taxa were Brassicaceae, Carduus type, Cistus and Papaver rhoeas. Statistical analysis showed that the geographical classifcation of pol- len samples among northern, central and southern Greece is possible. Keywords: Apis mellifera, botanical origin, geographical origin, Greece, melissopalynology, pollen. Laboratory of Apiculture and Sericulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece INTRODUCTION Honey bees depend on nectar and pollen to sustain themselves. Pollen provides lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals to the colonies; and it serves as the honey bees’ only protein source (Roulston and Cane, 2000). Pollen is necessary for brood and young worker development, thus, colony survival and growth depend on the quantity and the nutri- tional quality of the pollen resources provided by the foragers. The shortage of pollen can have signifcant effects, both on the strength and resilience of the colony and on honey production (McLellan, 1974). Nutritional quality, as well as quantity, is important. Pollen containing less than 20% crude protein cannot satisfy the colony requirements for its de- velopment and optimum honey production (Herbert, 1992). Pollen collected from different plant species has different nutrient value and may differ signif- cantly in amino acid composition and/or concentra- tion (Day et al., 1990; Roulston et al., 2000). Thus, knowledge of the composition and diversity of the pollen sources within an area is very important to the local beekeeping industry. Pollen is also considered to be a product of high nu- tritional value for human consumption. During recent years, its demand has been continually increasing in the world market (Villanueva et al., 2002). Because the composition of commercial pollen varies greatly depending on the botanical and geographical origin (Linskens and Jorde, 1997), the proper labeling of the product for human use necessitates an under- standing of these parameters. Greece is located in the center of the eastern Mediterranean, at the junction of Africa, Asia, and Europe, creating a habitat with a rich and diversifed fora (Phitos et al., 1995). The rich fora and terri- torial diversity, along with the abundant sunshine, create a unique environment for the development of apiculture. Beekeeping plays a very important economic role; about 20,000 families in Greece maintain over 1.5 million honey bee colonies (Papa- *corresponding author: mdimou@agro.auth.gr Received 25 September 2013; accepted 25 July 2014 DOI: 10.2478/JAS-2014-0018 Original Article J. APIC. SCI. Vol. 58 No. 2 2014