Microscopical analysis of some honeys from kangra and adjoining areas of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Beekeeping industry, one of the important agricultural and forest-based rural industries in India, is mainly involved in the production of commercial quantities of honey, using essentially colonies of the Indian hive-bee, Apis cerana. Beekeeping is entirely dependent on the types of flowering plants available in any given area. It is not only the total abundance, that is only important, but also the duration of time for which bee forage is available. Nectar and pollen are the raw materials of the beekeeping industry. Pollen analysis of honey shows the possibility of determining the botanical, geographical and ecological origin of honey from the pollen grains they contain. This is based on the fact that honeybees collect their food from plants, especially those that offer high concentration of high quality of nectar.