A DNA barcoding method for identifying and quantifying the composition of pollen species collected by European honeybees, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae).

ABSTRACT: The European honeybee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), is the most important crop pollinator, and there is an urgent need for a sustained supply of honeybee colonies. Understanding the availability of pollen resources around apiaries throughout the brood-rearing season is crucial to increasing the number of colonies. However, detailed information on the floral resources used by honeybees is limited due to a scarcity of efficient methods for identifying pollen species composition. Therefore, we developed a DNA barcoding method for identifying the species of each pollen pellet and for quantifying the species composition by summing the weights of the pellets for each species. To establish the molecular biological protocol, we analyzed 1008 pellets collected between late July a

SUBMITTER: Kamo T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6060998 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature