Pollen spectrum of honey of Apis mellifera L. and stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from the semi-arid region of Bahia State, Brazil

Abstract

Pollen in honey reflects its botanical origin and melissopalynology is used to identify origin, type, and quantities of pollen grains of the botanical species visited by bees. This study aimed to identify the pollen spectrum of honeys from Apis mellifera and stingless bees produced in the semi-arid region of Bahia, Brazil. We analysed 78 honey samples, which were submitted to the acetolysis process for identification and quantification of pollen types. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae were the most predominant families in pollen types. For Fabaceae, the most representative pollen types were Chamaecrista 1, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, Mimosa pudica, Mimosa tenuiflora, Prosopis and Senna. The results indicate that the flora explored by the bees to collect nectar is diverse in the semi-arid region of Bahia and the honeys analysed were classified as multifloral.