Atividade de voo da abelha mosquito (Plebeia sp.) em meliponario urbano, na cidade de Recife - PE.

Abstract

The search for products of organic and sustainable origin has been growing over the years, and the raising of bees with both sting, beekeeping, as well as stingless, meliponic growers fit these standards, and shows itself as an alternative for breeding and a source of income , mainly to small producers. This work aims to verify the flight and collection activities of the Mosquito bee (Plebeia sp.) in different months of the year, in the city of Recife, Pernambuco, a region in the forest zone. The present study was carried out from September 2021 to November 2021, in the meliponary of the Beekeeping and Meliponic Growing Sector, Department of Animal Science of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, located in the neighborhood of Dois Irmãos, in Recife – PE. The boxes chosen for observation were randomly selected and observations were carried out three days a month. Observations were made from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, for ten minutes every hour. In the observations, the number of bees that entered the colony carrying pollen and the number of bees that entered without apparent load were counted, being counted as nectar or water. Temperature and relative humidity data were also recorded, with a digital thermohygrometer installed in the meliponary. All data were statistically analyzed using the ASSISTAT program. To compare means, when necessary, the Tukey test was used at a 1% probability level. To analyze the frequency of insect visitation to flowers during the day, regression analysis by orthogonal polynomials was used, thus obtaining adequate equations for the observed patterns, under the conditions of the experiment. The temperature and humidity data were as expected for each month of the year in a place with a humid tropical climate, typical of the northeastern coast. The movement of bees was greater in the morning. The trend was towards greater nectar/water collection when compared to pollen collection. Thus, it is concluded that Plebeia sp. stingless bees prefer to collect both nectar and pollen in the morning, decreasing their frequency during the day, in studied months of the year.