Influence of the collection season on production, size, and chemical composition of bee pollen produced by apis mellifera l.

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate how the collection period affects and influences the production, chemical composition, and size of bee pollen loads (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, greater than 2.0 mm). The results showed there was a predominance of pollen loads with a diameter greater than 2.0 mm in all the production seasons. For all the seasons, there were no differences in protein content between the particle sizes. But when comparing 0.5 mm during the different periods, there were significant differences; the highest value was found during the winter (24.39 +/- 3.7%). As far as lipids and crude fiber are concerned, we obtained differences between the same granulometry sizes for the spring and summer seasons. As for ashes, the results showed differences between different particle sizes for the summer and autumn seasons. Our results have shown that regardless of pollen particle size, its quality was not altered, suggesting that smaller loads can be commercially used by containing nutritional quality or else be used by beekeepers as a supplement during periods of food scarcity.

O objetivo do nosso estudo foi investigar como o período de coleta afeta e influencia a produção, composição química e tamanho das cargas de pólen de abelha (0,5, 1,0, 2,0, maior que 2,0 mm). Os resultados mostraram que houve predominância de cargas de pólen com diâmetro superior a 2,0 mm em todas as safras de produção. Para todas as estações, não houve diferenças no teor de proteínas entre os tamanhos das partículas. Porém, ao comparar 0,5 mm nos diferentes períodos, houve diferenças significativas; o valor mais alto foi encontrado no inverno (24,39 ± 3,7%). No que diz respeito aos lipídios e fibra bruta, obtivemos diferenças entre os mesmos tamanhos de granulometria para as estações primavera e verão. Quanto às cinzas, os resultados mostraram diferenças entre os diferentes tamanhos de partículas para as estações de verão e outono.