Morfometria da corbícula e capacidade de carreamento de polén da abelha uruçu (Melipona scutellaris)

Abstract

All actions related to bees are directly or indirectly related to environmental conservation and preservation. A wide variety of authors study bee species seeking to know the productive aspects of each species and morphological aspects to establish characteristic parameters. Among the species of bees, the species Melipona scutellaris are Meliponíneos that stand out in importance for the production of various bee products. The objective of this work was to evaluate the pollen carrying capacity of M. scutellaris in different periods and in different hives. The bee samples were collected from 10 different hives, 5 samples being taken from each hive and placed in sterilized plastic pots, being properly identified and stored. The surveys were carried out at the Laboratory of the Beekeeping and Meliponiculture Sector of the Center for Agricultural Sciences of the Federal University of Paraíba on Campus II, Areia PB. The pollen types for the elaboration of the laminate were taken from the corbícular pollen of the foragers that arrived with transport, where they were used as an object of comparison with the samples of the flowers observed, photographed and collected from the bee pasture. To prepare the slides, glycerinated gelatin was used for fixation and then observed under a microscope. Data were submitted to correlation analysis between dependent variables, then analysis of variance was performed adopting a significance level of 5% and Tukey's test as the multiple comparison technique when necessary. The results show that there was a significant difference, regardless of the size of the corbícular area, the weight of pollen carried by Melipona scutellaris foragers is related to the period and abundance of flowering in the bee pasture and with their predilection.