Abstract
Abstract: Honey produced by native stingless bees in the Araucaria Forest region of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, specifically the municipality of Cambará do Sul, is highly valued for its characteristic white color, floral odor and taste. In this study, we investigated the botanical origin of white honey stored in colonies of five Meliponini species of the genera Melipona (n = 3) and Plebeia (n = 2). During the production period of white honey, from January to March, flowers were sampled fortnightly along pre-established trails to identify plants used by bees. For all sampled plant species, exsiccates and pollen reference slides were prepared. Honey samples from stingless bees were processed for extraction and preparation of pollen grains for identification of pollen types. In all analyzed honey samples, pollen grains of Clethra scabra (Clethraceae) were predominant (between 46-94%). Pollen grains from other botanical families, including Myrtaceae, Fabaceae and Melastomataceae were frequently identified in honey samples of the Melipona species, while Cunoniaceae was also found in samples of Plebeia species. In this study, we concluded that Clethra scabra is predominantly used by Meliponini bees in the production of white honey in the municipality of Cambará do Sul.
Highlights
The Araucaria Forest is part of the Atlantic Forest biome, found in South and Southeast Brazil, and in the Argentinian province of Missiones (Backes & Irgang 2002, Oliveira-Filho & Fontes 2000)
Only pollen grains from six (6) of these families were detected in honey samples
Pollen grains from a further nine (9) botanical families not detected in plant surveys were found in honey samples (Table 1)
Summary
The Araucaria Forest is part of the Atlantic Forest biome, found in South and Southeast Brazil, and in the Argentinian province of Missiones (Backes & Irgang 2002, Oliveira-Filho & Fontes 2000). Land use change that causes loss and/or fragmentation of natural habitats negatively impacts native bees populations due to loss or change of the floral resources used as food sources and nesting sites Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) represent about 80% of the floral visitors of the upper stratum of the Atlantic Forest (Ramalho 2004). The management of stingless bees can provide rural communities with a sustainable source of income,and promote wider ecosystem restoration (Venturieri et al 2012). Stingless bee honey occupies a specific niche in the market due to its appeal to consumers interested in healthy living, social justice and sustainable production with native species. The production of honey from stingless bees is still incipient and only serves local markets (Alves 2013)
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