Yeasts associated with pollinating bees and flower nectar

Abstract

A study of the yeast flora of 328 honey stomachs from 7 different pollinating bee species, and 342 flower nectar samples of 9 different flower species yielded 766 yeast isolates composed of 16 genera and 47 species. Most of the yeast species from both the sources belonged to the genus Candida, while the most frequently isolated yeasts were Dekkera intermedia from honey stomach and Candida blankii from flower nectar. Among the honey bees, Xylocopa sp., and among flowers, Citrus medica, yielded the highest number of yeast species. Nineteen species of yeasts belonging to 9 genera were common to both the sources. © 1985 Springer-Verlag.