Botanical Preferences of Africanized Bees (Apis mellifera) on the Coast and in the Atlantic Forest of Sergipe, Brazil

• Published in: Sociobiology (Chico, CA) Vol. 59; no. 1; p. 97
• Main Authors: Poderoso, Julio Cesar Melo, Oliveira, Maria Emilene Correia de, Silva e Souza, Tácito Moreira da, Paz, Luan Carlos da, Ribeiro, Genésio Tâmara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana 18-02-2015
• Subjects: food preferences; honey; palynology; pollen
• ISSN: 0361-6525; 2447-8067
• DOI: 10.13102/sociobiology.v59i1.768

Pollen analysis in honey can be used as an alternative method to researchinto flowers visited by bees in an area. This study aimed to indentify the mainfloral families in honey from apiaries in the Atlantic Forest and Sergipe statecoast. Honey samples from these apiaries were studied, as well as plants thatgrow around them, which can be used as a source of foraging for bees. Thepalynological technique was used to compare the pollen content of honeysamples with the pollen grains from leaves of plants found in the vicinityof the apiaries to assess whether they had been visited by bees. The resultsof studies in both sites were similar in terms of incompatibility of familiesfound in the apiary vicinity and honey. Thus, it was possible to observe thatin honey samples from the coast and in the remaining Atlantic forest, thenumber of families was greater than the number of families found in theapiary vicinity, which highlights the diversity of plants visited by bees and apossible expansion of the visited area for food search. This diversity suggestsan adaptive foraging behavior to plant resources available in the environment,which may facilitate the pollination of these botanical families andconsequently improve their genetic quality.