Seasonal compositions of Bee Pollen Collected by Apis cerana and Apis mellifera and Nutritional Value of Major Pollen Sources = 토종꿀벌과 서양꿀벌이 채집한 벌화분의 계절적 조성과 주요 화분의 영양학적 가치

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Apis cerana is a native honey bee species, while A. mellifera is the introduced in early 1900s. We compared the seasonal composition of bee pollen collected by two honey bee species of which colonies settled in the same site by palynology and DNA metabarcoding from June 2024 to May 2025. Additionally nutritional contents of crude protein, crude fat, moisture, ash, carbohydrate, amino acid and fatty acid of the major pollen sources were analyized. Results showed that throughout the study period, A. cerana consistently collected less pollen than A. mellifera. Total amount of pollen collected by A. mellifera colony was 2.04 times higher than that of A. cerana. Total 72 and 37 genera/morpho types of taxa were identified from palynological method and DNA metabarcoding. Among those, 8.3% were in common and 1.4% was specific to A. cerana and xxx to A. mellifera. Two species collected similar botanical sources of pollen during spring and fall season. However, in summer, A. cerana predominantly foraged on Zanthoxylum, a native plant, while A. mellifera focused on Erigeron, a naturalized species. Species diversity analysis showed no significant differences between two species in spring and summer, but a statistically significant difference in richness was observed in fall. Proximate composition, amino acid profiles, and fatty acid contents of major pollen sources revealed significant differences across all samples. Among the 13 major pollen genera, the ranges of crude protein, crude fat, moisture, ash, and carbohydrates were 26.14–12.09%, 12.78–0.93%, 21.93–6.76%, 3.40–1.42%, and 82.90–61.10%, respectively. The total amino acid content ranged from 24.78 to 11.07 g/100g, and the total fatty acid content ranged from 8146.07 to 831.55 mg/100g. Therefore, this study demonstrated that A. cerana and A. mellifera differ in the amount of pollen they collect and in the types of pollen they forage across seasons, and further revealed that the nutritional composition of the major pollen sources they collect also varies seasonally.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction 1
• 2. Literature review 4
• 3. Materials and Method 18
• 3.1. Comparison of seasonal characteristics and preferences of pollen
• collected by A. cerana and A. mellifera 18
• 3.1.1. Experimental insects and sampling sites 18
• 3.1.2. Relationship between colony and pollen amount 21
• 3.1.3. Palynological analysis 22
• 3.1.4. Metabarcoding 24
• 3.2. Nutritional profile of major bee pollen in seasonality 25
• 3.2.1. Samples preparing 25
• 3.2.2. Proximate analysis of bee pollen 26
• 3.2.3. Amino acids analysis of bee pollen 27
• 3.2.4. Fatty acids analysis of bee pollen 28
• 3.2.5. Statistical analysis 30
• 4. Results 31
• 4.1. Comparison of seasonal characteristics and preferences of pollen
• collected by A. cerana and A. mellifera 31
• 4.1.1. Relationship between colony and pollen amount 31
• 4.1.2. Palynological analysis 34
• 4.1.3. Metabarcoding 50
• 4.2. Nutritional profile of major bee pollen in seasonality 57
• 4.2.1. Proximate analysis of bee pollen 57
• 4.2.2. Amino acids analysis of bee pollen 59
• 4.2.3. Fatty acids analysis of bee pollen 63
• 4.2.4. Correlation between nutrition contents and major pollen ·· 67
• 5. Discussion 70
• 6. Conclusion 76
• 7. Literatures Cited 77
• 8. Abstract in Korea 96
• 9. 감사의 말· 97
• 10. Appendix 98