Importância do Trapiá (Crataeva tapia) como fonte de alimento para abelhas africanizadas e nativas

Abstract

The knowledge of the plants of a certain region, its flowering season and the characteristics of the pollen, help in the survey of the availability of food for the bees. Crataeva tapia is a plant of the family Capparidaceae, known as trapiá, that occurs from Pernambuco to São Paulo and Minas Gerais, in the rainforest Atlantic and in the Mato Grosso Pantanal. This study aimed to clarify the importance of trapiá pollinators and their advantages for the mapping of nectar and pollen sources available to Africanized honeybees and native bees. The study was carried out in the Meliponicultura Sector, in the Department of Animal Science, at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco with a duration of three days of observation, in October and November of 2018. Floral visitors were evaluated, beginning at 6:00 a.m. during 10 minutes and 1 hour intervals until 5:00 p.m., evaluating the habit of collecting each species of insect. The data were statistically analyzed using the Bioestat program and the statistical design used was the Fully-randomized (DIC). Tukey's test was used for the comparison of averages at a 5% probability level. Several species of insects were observed preferably bees. The insects observed were stingless bees Partamona helleri (36.43%) and Plebeia sp. (26.35%), vespids (14.35%), Africanized honeybees Apis mellifera (12.0%), stingless bees Melipona scutellaris (8.13%), carpenter bees Xylocopa frontalis (1.94%) and X. griscenses (0.80%). These bees preferred to collect pollen compared to nectar and only the Africanized honeybees visited these flowers for the collection of nectar and pollen. It was concluded that this plant species can be planted close to apiary and meliponariy being an important source of food for Africanized honeybees and native bees