Luís Carlos Marchini

Plantas visitadas por Apis mellifera L. no vale do rio Paraguaçu, Município de Castro Alves, Bahia

Samples of plant species visited by Apis mellifera in Castro Alves, State of Bahia (12°45S e 39°26W), valley of the Paraguacu River, were identified from January of 1994 to February of 1995. The community of apicultural plants was characterised by frequency indexes, constancy, abundance, diversity, uniformity and dominance, in relation to the number of bees collected on each plant species. A total of 48 species and 28 families were visited by A. mellifera during the observation period and the main species were Cissus simsiana Roem. & Schult. (Vitaceae), Melochia tomentosa L. (Sterculiaceae) and Portulaca elatior Mart. (Portulacaceae).

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

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 degrees 2100S, 38 degrees 2240W, 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%), Mimosaceae (25%) and Myrtaceae (56%) were the most represented in the pollen spectrum.

Análise de agrupamento, com base na composição físico-química, de amostras de méis produzidos por Apis mellifera L. no Estado de São Paulo

The honey composition depends, basically, of the nectar composition of each vegetal species. This composition confer to it specific characteristics while that the climatic conditions and the beekeeper handling have lesser influence on these features. The present research, developed with samples of Apis mellifera honeys, collected directly of the producers from 84 locations of the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, had the objective of verifying, on the basis of physico-chemical characteristics, as the samples of wild and Eucalyptus honeys are grouped. Amongst the 121 samples analyzed the wild and Eucalyptus honeys form distinct groups with basis of the physico-chemical characteristics, what confirms that the floral origin intervenes decisively with the honey characteristics. For the analysis of the main components, it can be verified that the characters that had more influenced in the groupings of the honey samples were the electric conductivity and amount of K, in axle X and the formol index and humidity, in axle Y.

Características físico-químicas de amostras de mel de Melipona mandacaia Smith (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Analises de amostras de mel da abelha Melipona mandacaia provenientes do municipio de Sao Gabriel, regiao semi-arida do Estado da Bahia, foram realizadas com o objetivo de contribuir para o conhecimento das caracteristicas fisico-quimicas desse produto. Os parâmetros analisados foram: Umidade (%); Hidroximetilfurfural (mg.kg-1); Acucares Redutores (%); Sacarose (%); Viscosidade (mPa. s); Condutividade Eletrica (µS); pH; Acidez (meq.kg-1); Indice de Formol (mL.kg-1); e Cor. A maioria dos parâmetros fisico-quimicos apresentou valores medios adequados para o consumo humano, o que possibilita a exploracao desse produto pelas comunidades rurais da regiao semi-arida da Bahia. Contudo, o teor de umidade elevado e um aspecto que requer uma maior atencao por parte do produtor, que devera ter maiores cuidados com a higiene na manipulacao do mel durante a coleta e no processo de armazenamento, evitando a sua contaminacao por microrganismos que causam a depreciacao do produto.

Composição físico-química de amostras de pólen coletado por abelhas Africanizadas Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera:Apidae) em Piracicaba, Estado de São Paulo

Pollen samples were collected from March, 1999 to March, 2000, in Piracicaba, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 5 beehives of Africanized Apis mellifera by using front pollen collectors with openings 4 mm diameter. The aim of this study was to determine the physico-chemical composition of pollen. Chemical composition of samples was determined at

Plantas visitadas por abelhas africanizadas em duas localidades do estado de São Paulo

The knowledge of plants from a given region, as well as the blooming period and the pollen characteristics, help for the determination of the plant species which contribute for the honey composition. Plants visited by honey bees were listed during the period 1994 to 1997. The survey was carried out weekly, at different times and within a 300 m radius at two sites: the apiaries of USP/ESALQ in Piracicaba, SP (22o 43S, 47 o 27W e 580 m) and of the Instituto de Zootecnia, in Pindamonhangaba, SP (22 o

Physicochemical composition of Apis mellifera honey samples from São Paulo State, Brazil

This research, developed with Apis mellifera honey samples from producers of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, has the objective of verifying how eucalyptus, wild flower, and orange honey samples would be clustered, based on physicochemical characteristics. All the orange honey samples and some wild flower ones formed distinct groups, thus confirming that the floral source interferes with honey characteristics. Eucalyptus and some of the wild flower honey samples were clustered together because of the great floral source variation in the latter ones. The characteristics that influence sample clustering are acidity and electric conductivity on the X axis, and total sugars and pH on the Y axis.

Fontes de pólen utilizadas por Apis mellifera L. e algumas espécies de Trigonini (apidae) em Piracicaba (SP)

Pollen sources used by a colony of Apis mellifera and four colonies of some species of Trigonini were compared during the months of October and November of 1996 in the Câmpus of Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Piracicaba, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil (22o43S; 47o25W; altitude: 580 m). The identification of the vegetable species visited by bees was through the pollen found in the masses located in the workers pollen basket of the studied species. Fifty-three types of pollen were identified, and the largest similarity percentage in the use of the pollen sources was between Nannotrigona testaceicornis and Tetragonisca angustula and the smallest between A. mellifera and T. angustula. The sequence of the species with larger width of the niche food was A. mellifera followed by Plebeia droryana, Partamona helleri, T. angustula and N. testaceicornis, while for the uniformity of use of the pollen sources it was P. helleri, P. droryana, A. mellifera, N. testaceicornis and T. angustula.

Análises físico-químicas de amostras de méis de flores silvestres, de eucalipto e de laranjeira, produzidos por Apis mellifera L., 1758 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) no Estado de São Paulo. 2. Conteúdo de açúcares e de proteína

A total of 155 honey samples, 94 from wild flowers, 27 from Eucalyptus flowers and 34 from Citrus flowers produced by Apis mellifera were collected from 96 locations of the State of Sao Paulo. Sugar and protein contents were the parameters determined and the percentage of the honey samples that complied with the Brazilian legislation for honey quality. The results showed that the honeys of these areas of Brazil are likely to be characterized by contents of reducing sugars within the range of 53.2 to 80.0% (w/w), levels of total reducing sugars of between 67.8 and 88.3% and from 0.1 to 27.4% of sucrose. Total protein was estimated at between 0.0 and 1.6mg/mL. The percentages of honey samples that complied with the Brazilian legislation for honey quality, for each parameter evaluated were: 99.4% for reducing sugars; 98.0% for sucrose and 39.3% for protein.

Tipos polínicos coletados por Nannotrigona testaceicornis e Tetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae)

Pollen types collected in the same flower field by Nannotrigona testaceicornis and Tetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponinae) were studied and compared for two months in Piracicaba, SP, Brazil (22o43S; 47o25W; Alt.: 580 m). The pollen loads were obtained by capturing bees returning to the nest from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., in October and November 1996. Thirty-one pollen types, belonging to 22 families, were identified: 22.58% were collected exclusively by N. testaceicornis, 35.48% by T. angustula and 41.94% by both species. Flowers from the families Fabaceae, Liliaceae, Mimosaceae and Myrtaceae and from the species Bulbine frutescens, Eucalyptus spp., Leucaena leucocephala and Tipuana tipu were the most frequently observed. The similarity index among the explored pollen sources by bees was 0.78.