Pollen in honey of Melipona scutellaris L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in an Atlantic rainforest area in Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

Uruçu (Melipona scutellaris L.) is an example of a native stingless bee typical of northeastern Brazil. It stands out due to its high-quality honey and for being responsible for 40 to 90% of the pollination of native plant species. A total of 37 honey samples were analysed, collected between July 2012 and June 2014 in a meliponary located in the municipality of Entre Rios, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Honey samples were diluted in distilled water, then in alcohol, and then were acetolysed. Climate information (precipitation and temperature) for the area was obtained during the same period of time. We found 102 pollen types, of which 71 were identified as belonging to 36 plant families. Fabaceae was the most representative family with 15 types, followed by Myrtaceae with seven types. Myrtaceae was highly significant due to the high distribution frequency and dominance of the Eucalyptus type. The Miconia type (Melastomataceae), highly polliniferous, also stood out in our analysis with a high distribution frequency and dominance in some of the sampled months. The precipitation index of the second year of study (August 2013 to June 2014) was much greater than the first year (July 2012 to June 2013), being proportional to the increase of pollen diversity in the same period.

Keywords:

• melissopalynology
• bee products
• native plants
• precipitation index
• Bahia, Brazil

Acknowledgements

Many thanks are due to the Plant Micromorphology Laboratory (State University of Feira de Santana) for facilities, to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for giving a grant to the first author, 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

Notes on contributors

Vanessa Ribeiro Matos

VANESSA R. MATOS has a degree in biological sciences from the UNIJORGE, and a master's degree in botany from the State University of Feira de Santana. Currently, she is a PhD student comparing the pollen flow in M. scutellaris L. and Apis mellifera L. products in a rainforest region in the state of Bahia, Brazil. She has experience in palynology of pollen and pollen morphology.

Francisco de Assis Ribeiro dos Santos

FRANCISCO DE ASSIS R. DOS SANTOS has a degree in biological sciences from the Federal University of Bahia (1987), a master's degree in botany from the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (1993) and a PhD in sciences (botany) from the University of São Paulo (1998). He developed a postdoctoral program of study in palynology at the Escuela Nacional Biological Sciences (National Polytechnic Institute, Mexico, DF). He is currently a full professor at the State University of Feira de Santana. His research is on all aspects of palynology studies.