Abstract
Abstract The study aimed to analyze the honey of Melipona subnitida to identify the plants visited by these bees in colonies installed in a restinga vegetation in Maranhao state. Honey was collected monthly from July/2017 to June/2018. The honey samples were submitted to the acetolysis method and the pollen grains were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The pollen analysis of honey resulted in 54 pollen types and 26 families. The largest pollen variety was registered in Fabaceae. Quantitative analyzes of pollen grains in honey samples revealed that three were monofloral, in July/2017 with Avicennia germinans honey and December/2017 and January/2018 with Copaifera martii honey. In the other months, the heterofloral honeys. Melipona subnitida proved to be general in food gathering. Knowing the flora used by M. subnita contributes to the meliponiculturists to improve the handling of the colonies, the increase and quality in the production of honey.
Highlights
Native stingless bees comprise the species belonging to the tribe Meliponini out of the family Apidae, which include the representatives of the genus Melipona (Michener, 2007)
We found that only 4% of pollen types are dominant pollens, 9% accessory pollens, and 87% isolated pollens
Anemophilous pollen was found in honey samples in March, April, and May 2018, which were recorded as occasional isolated pollen (PIo)
Summary
Native stingless bees comprise the species belonging to the tribe Meliponini out of the family Apidae, which include the representatives of the genus Melipona (Michener, 2007). This genus comprises the largest number of species in Brazil, being highlighted for its great richness in biodiversity (Camargo & Pedro, 2007). The species occurs commonly in caatinga areas, Rêgo & Albuquerque (2006) found it in Maranhão in a restinga area, after 14 years of not appearing in works with apifaunistic surveys It has been colonizing other environments such as mangroves, expanding the spectrum of plants used in its foraging (Rêgo et al, 2017).
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