Melissopalynology in an area of Atlantic Forest (northeast region, Brazil)

Abstract

Apis mellifera is a bee that was introduced to Brazil and has adapted very well to the climate conditions and vast diversity of plants that exist in the country. In the northeast region of Brazil, beekeepers make use of the association between bees and plants by selling various bee products, notably honey. One way to identify species visited by bees in an area is by the pollen in its products. Based on this, 16 samples of honey were analysed, which were collected over a period of two years and obtained from an apiary in the Atlantic Forest biome in the municipality of Entre Rios (Bahia). In addition, climatic data (precipitation and temperature) of the region were obtained for the months sampled. The average temperature of the region during the collection months varied from 22 to 28 °C. The highest precipitation recorded in the region was 133.7 mm³ and the lowest was 0.3 mm³. Seventy pollen types were found. The family Fabaceae was notable, with ten pollen types, of which Mimosa pudica was the most important with a high frequency of occurrence and distribution. The Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) pollen type also had a high frequency of occurrence and distribution. In addition, pollen types corresponding to species that supply nectar to bees were identified, which contributes to the large diversity of bee plants for Apis mellifera in the study area.

Keywords:

• bee products
• Eucalyptus
• nectariferous species

Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to Plant Micromorphology Laboratory (State University of Feira de Santana) for facilities, the financial support in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, and to the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico de Tecnológico (CNPq) for supporting FARS (# 303862/2013-0).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [303862]; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior [001].