Abstract:We located ten nests of Geotrigona subterranea in the transition area between Cerrado and Caatinga within the municipalities of Lontra and Januária, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. We collected the nests to study their architecture in detail. In the present paper, we describe the general nest structure of this bee species in terms of: number, shape and area of the combs; size of the brood cells; size of honey and pollen pots; volume of honey and mass of pollen stored in closed pots; presence of inquiline species; and defensive characteristics. All nests were found in subterranean cavities. The nest structure of G. subterranea is similar to that of other congeneric species. Keywords: bionomy, nesting, stingless bee, mombuca bee. Resumo: Foram localizados dez ninhos de Geotrigona subterranea em áreas de transição entre o Cerrado e a Caatinga nos municípios de Lontra e Januária, Estado de Minas Gerais. Os ninhos foram coletados para observação da arquitetura. Neste trabalho são apresentadas informações sobre estrutura geral e forma do ninho desta espécie; número, forma e área dos favos de cria; tamanho de células de cria; tamanho de potes de mel e pólen; volume dos potes de mel e massa de pólen em potes fechados; presença de inquilinos e características de defesa. Todos os ninhos foram encontrados em cavidades subterrâneas. De modo geral, esta espécie apresenta estrutura de ninho similar a apresentada por outras espécies do mesmo gênero. Palavras-chave: bionomia, nidificação, abelha sem ferrão, abelha Mombuca. Biota Neotrop., vol. 13, no. 1 completely withdraw the contents. We weighed the mass of pollen in closed pots with analytic scales.We estimated the population size with the equation (X + X/2), in which X represents the total number of cells obtained, following Aidar (1996).The collected specimens were sent to the Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, for identification. Results Nesting siteAll nests were built in underground cavities. The nests 01, 02, 07, 09, and 10 were built in abandoned ant nests; the nests 04 and 05 were found in inactive nests of subterranean termites; the nest 08 was found in a simple cavity between the ground and a masonry structure; the nests 03 and 06 were found in chambers formed by rainwater. Data on nest architecture are presented in Table 1.Among the nests studied, two were located in shaded areas with dense vegetation and the others in sunny areas, which were clean or covered with undergrowth. The excavated nests were found in soils with different physical properties, especially in terms of texture. Nest architecture Nest entranceThe entrance hole is circular with a diameter that ranges from 0.85 cm to 1.20 cm and an average value of 1.0 cm. In all nests, we observed detritus around the entrance, composed of particles of clay, gravel, leaves, sticks, and sawdust in a pile reaching up to 14 cm (Figure 1). The height of the pile of waste varied among environments; it was higher in are...

Flight activity of bees is influenced both by environmental factors and by internal condition of the colonies. Information about external activity of bees is very important, because it provides data of the species biology, supplying subsidies for the use of these insects in the pollination of crops. The present work aim to evaluate the flight activity of Geotrigona subterranea (Friese, 1901) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in natural environment. This study was performed on the Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais, in the municipality Januária, Minas Gerais State. Two natural nests were observed. The activities of bees of the colonies were recorded three days each month, during the period of December 2011 to November 2012, totaling 924 observations. It was recorded the number of bees leaving and entering the nest, and the type of material transported by them for ten minutes each hour from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. The bees entered the colony carrying pollen, resin, detritus and also without apparent material. The bees began external activities by 6 a.m. at 20°C and finished at 6 p.m. at 28.8°C. The peak of activity of G. subterranea occurs on schedule from 1 to 2 p.m. Even though G. subterranea makes their nests in underground, their foraging activities are very similar to others stingless bee species that usually nest on tree cavities or aerial places. This indicate that despite their particular nesting way the external factors as climatic ones will significantly modulate their foraging pattern in a daily and seasonal way.

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Bees are important components of the pollinator community of most ecosystems, contributing to the production of crops. The knowledge on the bees’fauna associated with crops and the pollination effect performed by bees on the fruit production and quality is important to the design, planning, and execution of projects to conserve pollinator populations in agricultural systems. The objectives of this work were to identify bees visiting tomato flowers, verify the climate variable and the day period on bee forage activity, and to evaluate the fruit production with different pollination types. The study was conducted from July 2015 to September 2017 in the Norte de Minas and Zona da Mata region, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Eleven tomato fields were sampled. Fruit set and fruit quality from different pollination methods was evaluated with the following treatments: single visit (SV), open pollination (OP), mechanical pollination (MP) and control (self-pollination) (C). A total of 1,998 individuals distributed in Andrenidae, Apidae, and Halictidae families were collected, with greater abundance and species richness for Apidae. The tomato fruit mass was higher in the OP than in the SV and MP, which differed from the C. The high abundance of Exomalopsis analis and its occurrence in all fields, allied to its sonication behavior, indicate that this species is an important pollinator of the tomato. The tomato does not depend exclusively on bee pollination, but this improves its yield and quality, especially when performed by individuals of different species.