Abstract
Abstract Nectariferous and polliniferous resources are key to the survival of social bees, so identifying the origin sources allows the implementation of management actions aimed at a greater supply of nutrients for the colonies. Besides, defining the floral origin of honeys contributes to their characterization and commercialization. The objective of our work was to identify the plants that provide nectar to the bees Apis mellifera and Tetragonisca fiebrigi in northern Misiones, through palynological analysis of honey samples collected between 2006 and 2008. Both bees showed a polylectic foraging habit. Richness of pollen types per sample ranged between 10 and 34 (mean = 20.5 ± 7.7) for A. mellifera, and between 13 and 43 (mean = 24.8 ± 7.1) for T. fiebrigi. The 15 most abundant pollen types in the honeys of A. mellifera were, in decreasing order of importance, Euphorbiaceae, Euterpe edulis, Holocalyx balansae, Calyptranthes concinna-type, Actinostemon, Salix, Ruprechtia laxiflora, Myrcianthes pungens-type, Thinouia mucronata, Allophylus edulis, Ilex, Syagrus romanzoffiana, Gouania latifolia-type, Parapiptadenia rigida, and Baccharis-type, whereas in the honeys of T. fiebrigi the most important pollen types included S. romanzoffiana, Schinus weinmannifolius-type, Baccharis-type, H. balansae, E. edulis, Rhamnaceae, Citrus, Leonurus japonicus, G. latifolia-type, A. edulis, Gomphrena perennis-type, Pouteria gardneriana, P. rigida, Zanthoxylum, and Actinostemon.
Highlights
Nectariferous and polliniferous resources are key to the survival of social bees and their colonies (Michener 2007)
In Argentina, among the honey-producing species we can mention to Apis mellifera L. (Apidae, Apini, Moure 2012) and native stingless bees belonging to the Meliponini tribe (Apidae, Camargo & Pedro 2013)
Botanical origin and pollen richness of samples A total of 117 pollen types were found; of them, 76 types were present in the A. mellifera samples, 104 in the T. fiebrigi samples, and 63 in the samples of both species
Summary
Nectariferous and polliniferous resources are key to the survival of social bees and their colonies (Michener 2007). The use of these resources can be analysed by observing the flora and its visitors (Souza et al 2016) or by pollinic analysis of food sources (honey and pollen) stored in nests (Vossler 2019). A. mellifera is the most widespread honey-producing species in the world and the number of hives is increasing (Potts et al 2016) despite the fact that in some countries of the Northern Hemisphere has undergone the loss of colonies due to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD, Vanengelsdorp et al 2017)
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