SummaryHoney bee pollen is considered to be a food, and national pollen standards exist in different countries such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Poland and Switzerland. It is the aim of the present work to review pollen composition and the analytical methods used for the evaluation of high quality bee pollen. Based on the experience of different countries and on the results of published research, we propose quality criteria for bee pollen, hoping that in the future they will be used as world wide bee pollen standards.

Honey bee pollen is considered to be a food, and national pollen standards exist in different countries such as Brazil, Bulgaria, Poland and Switzerland. It is the aim of the present work to review pollen composition and the analytical methods used for the evaluation of high quality bee pollen. Based on the experience of different countries and on the results of published research, we propose quality criteria for bee pollen, hoping that in the future they will be used as world wide bee pollen standards.

S u m m a r yConiferous honeydew honey, mainly Abies alba was characterised. Samples chosen for the study had organoleptic traits characteristic for the variety: greenish, opalescence tone of brown colour, mild, sweet flavour with pleasant, slightly resinous aftertaste and aroma as well as electrical conductivity over 0.95 mS/cm. To define composition and physicochemical parameters of the variety, contents of water and total sugars were determined. In addition various carbohydrates were identified and their contents were assessed as well. These were: fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, turanose, trehalose, isomaltose, malezitose. Other examined parameters related to honey quality were: free acidity, pH, the content of 5-hydroxymetylofurfural (HMF), the main amino acid -proline, and the activity of α-amylase enzyme (Diastase Number). The following properties were proven to be characteristic for this variety: high electrical conductivity with the average value of 1.14 mS/cm, ranging from 0.96 to 1.32 mS/cm; content of monosaccharides lower by few percent in relation to other honey varieties (from 58.2 to 67.4 g/100 g; on average 62.0 g/100 g) and a higher content of disaccharides and trisaccharide -melezitose. The presence of this sugar confirms that a considerable part of the honey was produced from honeydew. The average value of melezitose was 3.2 g/100 g, ranging from 0.9 to 5.9 g/100 g. Also, the results of the pH measurements were slightly higher than in other honey varieties (from 4.23 to 4.99; on average 4.63). The colour value in mm Pfund ranged from 74 to 105, with the average of 93.

a b s t r a c t here we describe a method of hydrocarbon (alkanes, alkenes, dienes) identification and quantitative determination of linear saturated hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) in beeswax using gas chromatography with a mass detector technique (gc-ms). beeswax hydrocarbons were isolated using a solid-phase extraction (spe) technique with neutral aluminum oxide (alumina -n, 1000 mg, 6 mL), then were separated on a non-polar gas chromatography column Zb-5ht inferno (20 m×0.18 mm×0.18 µm). qquantitative analysis of n-alkanes was conducted by the method of internal standard with squalane used as the internal standard. the basic parameters of validation (linearity and working range, limit of determination, repeatability and reproducibility, recovery) were determined. for all of the identified compounds, satisfactory (≥0.997) coefficients of correlation in the working ranges of the method (from 0.005 to 5.0 g/100 g) were obtained. the elaborated method was characterized by satisfactory repeatability and within-laboratory reproducibility. the average coefficients of variation for the total n-alkanes did not exceed 2% under conditions of repeatability or 4% under conditions of reproducibility. the recovery for individual n-alkanes was above 94%; for their total content, it was 100.5%. in beeswax originating from apis mellifera, n-alkanes containing from 20 to 35 carbon atoms in their molecules were determined. the total content of these alkanes was between 9.08 g and 10.86 g/100 g (on average, 9.81 g/100 g). additionally, apart from the saturated hydrocarbons, unsaturated hydrocarbons and dienes were identified.

The present studies are the second part of the research project dedicated to finding the causes for increased winter mortality of honey bee colonies. The aim of this task was to investigate incidents of overwintered colonies′ death with regard to the potential interrelation to the exposure to pesticides. The samples of winter stores of bee bread and sugar food (honey or syrup processed by bees), beeswax and bees collected from apiaries with low and high rates of winter colony mortality were searched for acaricides used to control V. destructor and plant protection pesticides. The presence of acaricides used in apiculture has been detected in the 51% beeswax samples. The most abundant acaricide was tau-fluvalinate. The stores of bee bread and sugar food had a similar frequency of plant protection pesticide occurrence, ranging between 50-60%, but the number of active substances and their concentrations were substantially lower in sugar food samples. The most prevalent pesticides in pollen were fungicides (carbendazim and boscalid) and insecticides (acetamiprid and thiacloprid). Only a few pesticides were found in the several dead honey bees. The level of pesticide contamination (frequency, concentration, toxicity) of hive products and bees originating from apiaries with both a high and low winter colony survival rates, was similar, which created a similar extent of risk. Although the multiple varroacides and pesticides were present in the hive environment we not found unequivocal links between their residues and high winter colony mortality.