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Pollen cell frequencies within hive of Apis dorsata in Bankura and Paschim Medinipur districts of West Bengal remain maximum mean value of 8.74 during the month of April and minimum mean value of 3.47 in August. The pollen cell frequency of hive was very positively correlated to the pollen stack number with a correlation coefficient (r) value of 0.96. The stack number per pollen cell varied from mean value of 9.40 (during April) to 4.27 (in August). Each pollen stack was made up of an average of 9.88 pairs of pollen pellets. The number of pollen grains per pollen stack ranged from 572450 to 1052480 with an average value of 817370. Among the melissopalynologically analyzed 1336 pollen stacks, 865 (64.75%) were unifloral, 407 (30.46%) were bifloral and 64 (4.79%) were multifloral in pollen compositions. Though from each pollen cell 1 to 7 pollen types were obtained, but majority of the pollen cells contain 3 pollen types. A total of 84 pollen types belonging to 39 plant families were identified. Among them most frequently occurred pollen type was Eucalyptus globulus, followed by Borassus flabellifer, Brassica nigra, Acacia auriculiformis, Sesamum indicum, Terminalia arjuna, Lannea coromandelica, Alangium salvifolium, Shorea robusta and Phoenix sylvestris.
Keywords: Apis dorsata, melissopalynology, pollen cell frequency, pollen stack.