Collection and identification of pollen from honey bee colonies

Abstract

Researchers often collect and analyze corbicular pollen from honey bees to identify the plant sources on which they forage for pollen or to estimate pesticide exposure of bees via pollen. Described herein is an effective pollen-trapping method for collecting corbicular pollen from honey bees returning to their hives. This collection method results in large quantities of corbicular pollen that can be used for research purposes. Honey bees collect pollen from many plant species, but typically visit one species during each collection trip. Therefore, each corbicular pollen pellet predominantly represents one plant species, and each pollen pellet can be described by color. This allows the sorting of samples of corbicular pollen by color to segregate plant sources. Researchers can further classify corbicular pollen by analyzing the morphology of acetolyzed pollen grains for taxonomic identification. These methods are commonly used in studies related to pollinators such as pollination efficiency, pollinator foraging dynamics, diet quality, and diversity. Detailed methodologies are presented for collecting corbicular pollen using pollen traps, sorting pollen by color, and acetolyzing pollen grains. Also presented are results pertaining to the frequency of pellet colors and taxa of corbicular pollen collected from honey bees in five different cropping systems.