Pollen spectrum of honey of "uruçu" bee (Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811)

RESUMO

In spite of the importance of the "uruçu" bee as honey producer of excellent quality, as well, potential pollinator both in agricultural and natural ecosystems, mainly in North-eastern Brazil, just some information is found in literature about sources that such bees utilize to collect nectar and pollen. The identification of the plants visited by Melipona scutellaris was accomplished with base on the analysis of pollen types found in the honey samples collected every two months, from March 1997 to February 1998, in 15 colonies located in Catu, State of Bahia, Brazil (12§21'00"S, 38§22'40"W, 76 m of altitude). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the pollen types were carried out determining the percentage and occurrence classes. Twenty-eight pollen types were found, being considered dominant pollen, the Eucalyptus spp. and Psidium sp. types and secondary pollen, Bauhinia sp., Caesalpinia sp. and Mimosa verrucata types. It was verified dominant pollen of Eucalyptus spp. in honeys produced in November/December 1997 and January/February 1998. The families Caesalpiniaceae (14 percent), Mimosaceae (25 percent) and Myrtaceae (56 percent) were the most represented in the pollen spectrum