POLLEN OF NON-NECTARIFEROUS PLANTS IN THE MICROSCOPIC IMAGE OF HONYES OF SOME COMMUNES OF THE Ś WI Ę TOKRZYSKIE VOIVODESHIP

In the investigated material, consisting of 143 honey samples, pollen grains of 109 taxa were identified; 80 were represented by nectariferous plants and 29 by non-nectariferous plants. In the pollen of nectariferous plants, 17 anemophilous and 12 entomophilous taxa were found. In particular honey samples, from 1 up to 13 taxa were noted. The identified pollen grains came from plants belonging to 19 botanical families. The most frequently represented families were as follows: Rosaceae, Poaceae and Ranunculaceae. The percentage proportion of pollen of non-nectariferous taxa varied and it was within a range of 0.3% to 69.4%. The highest average frequency among anemophilous plants was demonstrated by the pollen of Poaceae (others), Quercus and Rumex, whereas among entomophilous plants by the pollen of Filipendula, Plantago and Fragaria.


INTRODUCTION
Among different components in honey, there are also floral pollen grains.Their presence is associated with contamination of nectar with pollen within a flower, secondary contamination of honey in combs or the blowing of pollen into a hive.In nectar honeys, entomophilous pollen is most frequently predominant, whereas honeydew honeys are often characterised by a high proportion of pollen of non-nectariferous (anemophilous and entomophilous) plants.
Melissopalynological analysis of a honey allows determining its botanical and geographical origin, the date of collection of the honey from the hive as well as distinguishing monofloral and multifloral honeys.Moreover, it enables plants providing pollen flow for bees to be identified.
The aim of the study was to identify the proportions of pollen of non-nectariferous (entomophilous and anemophilous) plants in honeys of some communes of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (regional administrative unit).The study was conducted based on microscopic images of 143 honey samples.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The object of the study was 143 honey samples collected in the years 2003-2005 from apiaries located within the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.During the successive apicultural seasons, 43, 51 and 49 samples were collected from 46 localities (17 different communes) in Opatów and Sandomierz Counties.
Microscopic pollen analysis was performed following the guidelines of the International Commission of Bee Botany (Louveaux et al. 1978) and the Polish Standard PN-88/A-77626 Bee Honey (1988), which complies with the recommendations of the International Honey Commission (von der O h e et al. 2004).For each honey, glycerol-gelatine slides were prepared in two replicates.
The pollen spectrum was determined using a Nikon Eclipse E 600 light microscope at a magnification of 40 15.To this end, at least 300 pollen grains were counted in each slide, according to the recommendations of M o a r (1985).An attempt was made to assign these grains to a taxa as accurately as possible (species, genus, structure type or family) by using Z a n d e r ' s classification (1935,1937).Unidentified pollen grains within a family were classified as "others"; for example, among Poaceae the following were identified: Zea mays, Cerealia and Poaceae (others).Nomenclature and systematic arrangement of plant taxa followed S z a f e r et al. (1967) and M i r e k et al. (1995).
In order to determine pollen taxa as accurately as possible, comparative slides and available keys were used (Z a n d e r , 1935, 1937; H o d g e s , 1952; S a wy e r , 1981, 1988 The pollen frequency for particular taxa of non-nectariferous (anemophilous and entomophilous) plants was determined based on the number of samples in which the presence of pollen of a given taxon was noted.It was calculated both for the whole material and for particular honey groups.

RESULTS
Based on the microscopic analysis results, 70 monofloral honeys and 73 multifloral honeys were distinguished in the examined material.Among the monofloral honeys, 35 turned out to be consistent with the Polish Standard.These were the following: 26 honeys from Brassica napus, 4 from Robinia pseudacacia, 3 from Tilia and 2 honeys from Fagopyrum.In addition, 35 honeys were determined as monofloral honeys not covered by this Standard.The following honeys were included in this group: 9 honeys from Trifolium (T.pratense and T. repens), 8 from Galeopsis, 7 from fruit trees (Prunus and Malus), 6 from Solidago, 2 from Phacelia and Sinapis alba as well as one honey from Salix.
In the 143 honey samples, pollen grains of 109 taxa were identified, among which 80 were represented by nectariferous plants and 29 by non-nectariferous plants.Among the pollen of non-nectariferous plants, 17 anemophilous and 12 entomophilous taxa were noted (Tab.1).The presence of pollen of non-nectariferous plants was found in all the honeys.The number of their taxa in particular samples was within a range of 1 to 13, which accounted for a proportion of 0.3-64.9%(Tab.2).The identified taxa came from 19 botanical families: 15 from dicotyledons, 2 from monocotyledons and 2 from gymnosperms.The family Rosaceae was represented most frequently and pollen grains of Filipendula, Fragaria, Rosa and Sanguisorba were distinguished within this family.Among representatives of Poaceae, the pollen of Cerealia, Zea mays and Poaceae (others) was recorded, and among Ranunculaceae the pollen of Anemone, Hepatica and Ranunculus.
In spring honeys (rape and robinia) as well as in early summer honeys (lime and clover), Poaceae (others), Quercus and Pinus were predominant among the pollen of anemophilous taxa, whereas Fragaria, Papaver and Ranunculus predominated in the group of non-nectariferous entomophilous plants.In other honeys, in addition to Poaceae (others), numerous pollen grains of Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae and Hypericum were noted.The highest variations in the frequency and proportion of pollen of non-nectariferous plants were found in multifloral honeys (Tabs 1, 2).A comparison of pollen frequency of more important non-nectariferous plants in the study years is illustrated in Fig. 1.The highest range in the proportion of pollen of non-nectariferous plants was recorded in rape (0.3-50.0%), lime (6.8-69.4%)and multifloral honeys (0.9-54.5%) (Tab.2).  of Hypericum and Rumex (50%) were marked by the highest pollen frequency among non-nectariferous taxa (M a u r i z i o , 1979).

DISCUSSION
Pollen of different plant species is characterised by a variable proportion of nutrients, hence, a different nutritional value, and this determines its digestibility and usefulness as honey bee food (M a u r i z i o , 1954; S t a w i a r z , 2005).M a u r i z i o (1954) mentions the pollen of nectariferous and non-nectariferous entomophilous plants among the most valuable pollen.He classifies the pollen of anemophilous plants in the group of medium and low-value pollen.However, these plants are particularly valuable in the spring period, when there is no other pollen flow for bees and the bee family develops intensively.The number of identified pollen taxa of non-nectariferous plants was much higher in honeys collected from hives in spring or early summer compared to honeys from a later period.It was undoubtedly associated with a larger number of nonnectariferous taxa flowering at that time.

CONCLUSIONS
1.In the investigated material, the presence of pollen grains of 17 anemophilous taxa and 12 non-nectariferous entomophilous taxa from 19 botanical families was noted.2. The highest average frequency among non-nectariferous anemophilous taxa was demonstrated by the pollen of Poaceae (others), Quercus and Rumex, whereas among non-nectariferous entomophilous taxa by the pollen of Filipendula, Plantago and Fragaria.3. Spring and early summer honeys were characterised by a much higher proportion of pollen of nonnectariferous plants compared to honeys collected at a later period.
; R i c c i a r d e l l i d ' A l b o r e , 1998; B u c h e r et al. 2004).
Pollen grains of non-nectariferous plants were present in all the honey samples analysed.The pollen of Poaceae (others), Quercus and Rumex had the highest frequency among anemophilous plants, whereas Filipendula, Plantago and Fragaria among nonnectariferous entomophilous plants.W a r a k o m s k a (1985) also found the presence of pollen grains of the abovementioned taxa in honeys originating from Jelenia Góra Valley.Their proportions in particular samples were assessed as subsidiary or dominant, however, this author found a lower frequency of Plantago and Fragaria pollen compared to honeys originating from the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship.Pollen grains of Poaceae, Rumex, Plantago, Filipendula and Ranunculus were also characterised by a high frequency in honeys of the Podlasie region (W r ó b l e w s k a , 2002) and from north-eastern Poland (W r ó b l e w s k a etal.2006).In analysing the pollen spectrum of some honeys from south-eastern Poland, C e g l i ń s k a and S t a w i a r z (2007) point out that Poaceae and Rumex reached the highest frequency in these honeys (58.4%), whereas Artemisia had a lower frequency (45.8%).Pollen grains of Poaceae (others), Quercus and Rumex were also characterised by a high frequency and proportion in the microscopic image of spring monofloral honeys from the Rzeszów area (C e g l i ń s k a , 2008).Pollen of non-nectariferous plants is also noted in honeys coming from outside Poland.In Austrian hon-

Table 1
Pollen frequency of non-nectariferous plants in the examined honeys (%).Pollen percentage of non-nectariferous plants in the microscopic view in the examined honeys.