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

Abstract

A total of 61 dried bee pollen samples collected in four Brazilian macro-regions within 19 municipalities were analyzed to identify the sources used by Apis mellifera (L.) for pollen production and to enable a more accurate product certification. Sample preparation followed the standard methodology, including washing the pollen grains with ethanol and then with water and homogenising the sediment in a water/glycerine solution for microscopic observation. Pollen counts included at least 500 pollen grains per sample. Only six samples, presenting a unique species or pollen type comprising more than 90% of the pollen sum, were considered monofloral, including Ambrosia sp., Cecropia sp.,Eucalyptus sp., Fabaceae, Mimosa scabrella (Benth.) spp. and Schinus sp. pollen types. The most frequent pollen types of the heterofloral pollen batches, based on a counting limit of 45%, included Anadenanthera sp., Asteraceae,Brassica sp., Caesalpiniaceae, Cocos nucifera (L.) sp., Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia (Benth.) sp., Mimosa verrucosa(Benth.) sp., and Myrcia sp. pollen types. This result may be related to the great diversity of the Brazilian flora contributing to heterofloral pollen loads and honeys.

Microbiological quality and physicochemical characterization of Brazilian bee pollen

“…The lipid content obtained in this study ranged between 3.25 and 10.96% which is in accordance with the limit recommended by the Brazilian Legislation (minimum of 1.8%). Freitas et al (2013) used the same 62 samples for determining the botanical origin of each sample. The lipid content had a positive correlation with the bee pollen from Amaranthus, Asteraceae, Poaceae, and Euphorbiaceae.…”

FONTES DE PÓLEN UTILIZADAS POR Apis mellifera LATREILLE NA REGIÃO SEMIÁRIDA

“…O elevado potencial apícola da família Fabaceae-Mimosoidea destacou-se devido à sua ampla distribuição no ecossistema e coleta de recursos pelas abelhas eussociais (23,24) . De acordo com Freitas (25) , espécies de Mimosoidea foram observadas como importantes fontes de pólen para A. mellifera, apresentando uma frequência como pólen dominante. Os tipos polínicos mais constantes nas amostras foram: Asteraceae 2 (83,3%), Euphorbiaceae (50%), Hyptis (50%), Achmella (41,7%), Jackemontia (41,7%), Mimosa ophtalmocentra (41,7%) e Mimosa misera (41,7%) (Tabela 1).…”

Pollen Spectrum and Trophic Niche Width of Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811 (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Highly Urbanized and Industrialized Sites

“…Environmental factors affect the flowering periods (Freitas et al, 2013) and in the foraging activity of bees (Nascimento et al, 2012;Oliveira et al, 2012). observed in the Amazon region that the frequency of rains promoted a diversification of pollen types due to low flowering.…”