Microbial analysis of hive stored pollen of Indian honey bee, Apis cerana indica (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify the microbial communities associated with the hive stored pollen of Apis cerana indica colonies in Palakkad and Wayanad region of Kerala. Investigation revealed that samples collected from Palakkad contained two bacteria viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus megaterium and one fungus viz., Trichoderma reesei, while pollen from Wayanad had two bacteria viz., B. aryabhattai and B. megaterium and two fungi viz., Westerdykella multispora and Neurospora crassa. Microbial load was more in samples from Wayanad (6.6x10⁴ cfu g^-1) compared to Palakkad sample (3.3x10⁴ cfu g^-1).