Abstract

The water content of honey bee-collected pollen was determined by a method of drying. A list of the water content in the pollen of 50 identified plant species was made. The percentage of water content in the examined bee-collected pollen samples ranged between 9.69% for Centaurea calcitrapa and 23.12% for that of Crepis sp. and the average was 17.35%. Pollen from various botanical species has a different water content. There are also differences among different species of plants of the same family. The anemophilous species- Juglans regia and especially Chenopodium sp. and Atriplex patula had one of the lowest water contents, while Plantago sp. and specifically Amaranthus retroflexus had one of the highest water contents. The introduced plant Zea mays, Salix sp.- which was regarded as an anemophilous plant in this analysis and Morus nigra occupied a middle position in the results. No differences were found in the water content of pollen between the anemophilоus and the entomophilous species. Ecological factors, especially rainfalls, can also affect water content.

Keywords: Bulgaria; Honey bee; Melissopalynology; Method of drying; Pollen; Water content