Identification of pollen as afood resource for honey bees (Apis binghami) in the village of Bonto Manurung, District of Tompobulu, Regency of Maros

Abstract

The endemic Sulawesi giant honey bee, Apis binghami, cannot be domesticated like other domesticated Apis genus bees. This bee is foraging for sources of nectar and pollen from plants around the tree where it is nesting. The purpose of this study is to identify the types of plant pollen in bee bread and honey as a means of identifying the food source of A. binghami forest bees and analyzing the category of honey they produce. The method used to extract pollen from honey and bee bread was acetolysis, an Erdtman method. The research found nine types of plant pollen in bee bread and seven in honey as food sources for A. binghami from samples collected from Bonto Manurung Village, Maros Regency. Aren palm (Arengan pinnata) pollen had the highest percentage frequency as a secondary pollen type group, along with mango (Mangifera sp.) and cotton wood tree (Ceiba petandra). Other types of plant pollen were classified as important minor pollen type and minor pollen type, resulting in honey from the hunting location of Bonto Manurung Village being categorized as multifloral honey.