Cultured Microbiological Content of the Intestinal Tract and Stored Pollen of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Microorganisms associated with Apis mellifera were characterized. Samples were collected from storage pollen (young pollen and ripe pollen) and carried in corbiculas, and bee's gut of newly born and adult workers. Bacteria belonging to Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Micrococcus, Lactobacillus, Klebsiella, Proteus, Yersinia and Arthrobacter genus and molds of Rhizopus, Alternaria and Epicoccum genus were isolated. According to their biochemical properties some of these microbes may be involved in the outer pollen walls degradation and could have been acquired by the bees through food ingestion or contact with other bees. The molds presence is explicated by their wide environmental distribution; they are typically found in soil and plants chosen as food source by bees.