Pollen analysis in honey samples from the two main producing regions in the Brazilian northeast

Abstract

Knowledge about the botanical source of honey is very important for the beekeeper while it indicates adequate and abundant supply sources of nectar and pollen for the bees, thus contributing toward improved yield. The present study means to identify the pollen types occurring in 58 samples of honey produced in two states of the northeastern region of Brazil, Piauí (38 samples) and Ceará (20 samples), and to verify the potential of the honey plants during the months of February to August. The samples were obtained directly from beekeepers in each state and analyzed at the Apiculture Laboratory of the Entomology Section of Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz", USP, Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The pollen analysis was performed using the acetolysis method. The samples were submitted to both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis. The dominant pollen in the State of Ceará is from Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia, M. verrucosa, Borreria verticillata, Serjania sp., and a Fabaceae pollen type, while in the State of Piauí it is from Piptadenia sp., M. caesalpiniaefolia, M. verrucosa, Croton urucurana and Tibouchina sp.

Pollen analysis of honeys from Caatinga vegetation of the state of Bahia, Brazil

“…The same importance of this family was observed in the pollen spectrum of honey from other regions of Bahia (Barth, 1970a(Barth, , 1971Moreti et al, 2000;Santos & Santos, 2003;Almeida et al, 2005;Sodré et al, 2007). The genus Mimosa is particularly important in the pollen spectrum, and its pollen types were the only predominant pollen, appearing as secondary pollen, important minor pollen and minor pollen.…”

“…The pioneering works in Bahia were carried out by Barth (1970bBarth ( , 1971, and more recently by other researchers (Moreti et al, 2000;Sodré et al, 2001Sodré et al, , 2007Santos & Santos, 2003;Almeida et al, 2005;Novais et al, 2006;Lima, 2007).…”

The botanical profiles of dried bee pollen loads collected by Apis mellifera (Linnaeus) in Brazil

“…Cocos nucifera pollen grains were well represented in all samples of the three Northeast states (Rio Grande do Norte, Sergipe and Bahia). The pollen of this species was associated with M. verrucosa ("espinheiro preto"), a typical plant throughout the Brazilian Northeast (Sodré et al 2007), and mainly in samples of the state of Sergipe. In addition, M. caesalpiniaefolia ("sabiá") was found in association with Cocos nucifera.…”

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“…É importante também, para essa atividade, o conhecimento das plantas usadas pelas abelhas. Assim, os apicultores terão informações sobre as fontes de néctar e pólen, especialmente no Brasil onde grande parte da produção é proveniente da vegetação natural (Sodré et al, 2007).…”