SEASONAL HONEY POLLEN COMPOSITION IN THE SOUDANO-GUINEAN HIGHLAND ZONE OF CAMEROON

In orderto assess the influence of seasons on the exploitation of mellliferous plants by Apis mellifera adansonii,seasonal pollen spectra of 104 honey samples collected between September 2010 and March 2011 in the Highlands area of west Cameroon (LN 5°21.459–5°35.449 and LE 10°04.729–10°26.249) were analysed using melissopalynology methods. The aim was to evaluate the influence of seasons on the exploitation of melliferous plants by A.mellifera adansonii.The spectrum of bee-plants exploited during the rainy season was large and diversified compared to the dry season. Asteraceae and Caesalpiniaceae were the most represented families for the dry and the rainy seasons, respectively. Asteraceae was also the most represented family in the two seasons. The spontaneous Eucalyptus salignaand Terminalia mantalywere much foraged during the two seasons. Flowers of herbs were highly exploited in both the seasonsand white colour flowers werefrequently foraged. Honey of rainy season was more diversified with four distinguished colours. Predominant and important minor was significantly higher in rainy season compared to the dry season. The frequency of pollen in honey varied considerably with seasons and availability of blooming vegetation exploited by honeybees. Irrespective of vegetation diversity with seasonal variation, honeybee visits were very specific to some plants species.