DO HONEYBEES USE THE FUNGAL SPORES AS NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS? AN ANATOLIAN SAMPLE
Gulsah Yil
Abstract: Honey is one of the most requested food products worldwide. The beneficial biochemicals are primarily provided by plants that honeybees visit to collect nectar and pollen. Pollen was considered to be the most important nutritional source of honey but in studies conducted in recent years fungal spores are accepted as supplement of bee products. When fungal spores are added to the pollen diet, they increase the nutritional value and ensure that the bee colony lives longer. Additionally it is possible to utilize bees in engineering applications-as spatially distributed bioindicators- to interpret ecological conditions. . For this reason this study was conducted in 13 districts of Eastern Anatolia (Malatya) during 2020. The 35 honey samples were provided from local stationary beekeepers. The honeys were prepared to examine microscopic for determining the diversity of fungal spores. 35 fungal spore type and hypha fragments were specified. Cladosporium (13.484 %), Aspergillus/Penicillium (6.682 %), Uredinales (6.592 %), Metschnikowia (5.692 %), Puccinia (5.649 %) spores were determined as most frequent spore types in samples. Kuluncak (KC-1) sample represented with the highest percentage (4.891%), Puturge (PT-3) sample represented with the lowest percentage (1.985%) in all districts of study area.
Keywords: Honey, Fungal Spore, Malatya, Anatolia
DOI: 10.24874/PES08.03A.015
Recieved: 25.05.2026 Revised: 13.08.2026 Accepted: 02.09.2026
UDC:
Reads: 4 
