Contribution to the melissopalynological knowledge of Huelva and Seville

Abstract

Nineteen spring honey samples from different localities of the regions of El Andévalo (Huelva) and North Sierra of Sevilla have been studied by light microscopy. The results are compared with those of previous melissopalynological studies of these regions. It is shown that honeydew is little important as honey source during spring, though it is not the same in other seasons. Available data suggest that, as a whole, the apiculturally-interesting flora of North Sierra of Sevilla is more diverse than that of El Andévalo, but pollen spectra of El Andévalo honeys, individually, have not a lesser number of types. One-third of the pollen types found in this work had not been recorded before in samples from these regions, but the main apicultural resources had been already detected in the previous studies. The current results emphasize notably the role of Echium plantagineum and Lavandula stoechas as spring nectar sources, and point out the possibility of getting unifloral honeys from these taxa. In like manner, it is emphasized the role of severa l species of Cistus as main pollen resources during spring. Among the taxa whose pollen grains have been found in this work for the first time in samples from these regions, Teucrium capitatum, as nectar source, and Cistus libanotis, as pollen source, are the most outstanding ones, their importance being local.