Cuban stingless bee livestock exhibit specialized floral resource use: a palynological study on honey samples from Matanzas and Mayabeque provinces
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v69i3.7729Keywords:
honey, stingless bee pollen, Melipona beecheii, melissopalynologyAbstract
The knowledge of the different plant species that make up the feeding diet of animals is highly important to develop more efficient strategies. This research aimed to characterize the food potential available for the Cuban stingless bee livestock of the Matanzas and Mayabeque provinces. Palynological analysis was done using 60 g of pollen from sealed pots and 80 mL of honey from the ten randomly selected beehives (five in each province). The results showed that in the honey collected in Matanzas province, the most represented family was Amaranthaceae, followed by Myrtaceae and Fabaceae. Meanwhile, for Mayabeque, the most represented ones were the families Fabaceae and Myrtaceae. Regarding the stingless bee pollen of Matanzas provenance, the family Fabaceae prevailed, followed by Burseraceae and Myrtaceae. The pollen corresponding to Mayabeque coincided in showing Fabaceae as the most representative. In addition, pollen grains of small size (from 10 to 25 µm) were collected, with a marked representation of the pollen type of Mimosa pudica in the Mayabeque honey. It was concluded that the Cuban stingless bee livestock of the Matanzas and Mayabeque provinces had a specialist feeding behavior because a low number of plant taxa made up its diet.
Downloads
References
Academia de Ciencias de Cuba. (1989). Nuevo Atlas Nacional de Cuba. Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartografía. La Habana, Cuba. p. 41.
Aira, M.J., Chávez, M.A., Fernández-González, M. & Rodríguez-Rajo, F.J. (2018). Pollen diversity in the atmosphere of Havana, Cuba. Aerobiologia, 34: 389-403.
Araújo, E.D., Costa, M., Chaud-Netto, J. & Fowler, H.G. (2004). Body size and flight distance in stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini): inference of flight range and possible ecological implications. Brazilian Journal of Biology, 64: 563-568.
Barquero-Elizondo, A.I., Aguilar-Monge, I., Méndez-Cartín, A.L., Hernández-Sánchez, G., Sánchez-Toruño, H., Montero-Flores, W. & Mesén-Montano, I. (2019). Asociación entre abejas sin aguijón (Apidae, Meliponini) y la flora del bosque seco en la región norte de Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Revista de Ciencias Ambientales, 53: 70-91.
Biesmeijer, J.C. (1997). Abejas sin aguijón. Su biología y organización de la colmena. Elinkwijk BV, Utrecht.
Costa, C.C.A., Silva, C.I., Maia-Silva, C. Limão, A.A.C. & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L. (2017). Origem botânica do mel da jandaíra em áreas de caatinga nativa do Rio Grande do Norte. In: V.L. Imperatriz-Fonseca, D. Koedam, M. Hrncir (Eds.), A abelha jandaíra no passado, no presente e no futuro (pp. 161-166). Mossoró: Ed. Ufersa.
Erdtman, G. (1952). Pollen morphology and plant taxonomy. Angiosperms. Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 539 p.
Espinoza-Toledo, C., Vázquez-Ovando, A., Torres de los Santos, R., López-García, A., Albores-Flores, V. & Grajales-Conesa J. (2018). Stingless bee honeys from Soconusco, Chiapas: a complementary approach. Revista de Biología Tropical, 66: 1536-1546.
Ferreira, M.G. & Absy, M.L. (2013). Pollen analysis of the post-emergence residue of Melipona (Melikerria) interrupta Latreille (Hymenoptera: Apidae) bred in the central Amazon region. Acta Botanica Brasilica, 27: 709-713.
Ferreira, M.G. & Absy, M.L. (2017). Pollen analysis of honey of Melipona (Michmelia) seminigra merrillae and Melipona (Melikerria) interrupta (Hymenoptera: Apidae) bred in Central Amazon, Brazil. Grana, 56: 436-449.
Flores, F.F., Lupo, L.C. & Hilgert, N.I. (2015). Recursos tróficos utilizados por Plebeia intermedia (Apidae, Meliponini) en la localidad de Baritú, Salta, Argentina. Caracterización botánica de sus mieles. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica, 50: 515-529.
Fonte, L. (2007). Caracterización Preliminar de las “abejas de la tierra” y sus “tenedores”, las colmenas y la miel que producen, en zonas de las provincias occidentales de Cuba. Degree work. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria. La Habana: Universidad Agraria de la Habana., 81 p.
García, M., Pérez-Arquillue, C., Juan, T., Juan, M.I. & Herrera, A. (2001). Note. Pollen analysis and antibacterial activity of Spanish honey. Food Science and Technology International, 7: 155-158.
García-Abad, J.J. (2015). Abundancia relativa, frecuencia y riqueza de plantas vasculares a escala local. Metodología de Índices de Ocupación de la Flora (aplicada a La Alcarria Occidental). Estudios Geográficos, 76: 499-530.
González-Porto, A.V., Sánchez Reyes E., De Linares Fernández C., Rodríguez de la Cruz D., Sánchez Sánchez J., Belmonte Soler J., Seijo Coello M.C., Valencia Barrera R.M., García Rogado M.R. & Matías Martínez Y. (2018). El Grupo de Trabajo de la Miel y la normalización de protocolos de análisis melisopalinológicos (comunicación oral). IX Congreso Nacional de Apicultura (Tenerife, España).
Guimarães, J.T.F., Costa, L., Zappi, D.C., Batista Junior, W.F., Lopes, K.D.S., Alves, R.C.D.O. & Barth, O.M. (2021). Preferências de forrageamento da abelha nativa sem ferrão Melipona seminigra pernigra (Apidae: Meliponini) em campo rupestre na canga da Serra dos Carajás, sudeste da Amazônia. Biota Neotropica, 21: e20201004
Henderson, P.A. & Seaby, R.H. (2002). Species Diversity and Richness 3.02. Lymington, UK: Pisces Conservation Ltd, http://www.pisces-conservation.com. [12/03/18].
Hilgert-Moreira, S.B., Nascher, C.A., Callegari-Jacques, S.M. & Blochtein, B. (2013). Pollen resources and trophic niche breadth of Apis mellifera and Melipona obscurior (Hymenoptera, Apidae) in a subtropical climate in the Atlantic rain forest of southern Brazil. Apidologie, 45: 129‒141.
Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L., Kleinert-Giovannini, A. & Ramalho, M. (1989). Pollen harvest by eusocial bees in a non-natural community in Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 5: 239-242.
Leal-Ramos, A. & Sánchez, L.E (2013). Antagonismo de Apis mellifera y Melipona beecheii por las fuentes de alimentación. Revista Cubana de Ciencias Forestales 1:102-109.
Lóriga, W. (2015). Caracterización de las abejas, colmenas, sistema de manejo y estado de salud de Melipona beecheii Bennett (Apidae, Meliponini) en áreas del Occidente de Cuba. Doctoral Thesis. San José de las Lajas: Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Agraria de La Habana, 98 p.
Louveaux J., Maurizio A. & Vorwhol G. (1978). Methods of Melissopalinology. Bee World, 59: 139-157.
Novais, J.S., Absy, M.L. & dos Santos, F.D.A.R. (2013). Pollen grains in honeys produced by Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in tropical semiarid areas of northeastern Brazil. Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 7: 619-632.
Novais, J.S. & Absy, M.L. (2015). Melissopalynological records of honeys from Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille, 1811) in the Lower Amazon, Brazil: Pollen spectra and concentration. Journal of Apicultural Research, 54: 11-29.
Nunes-Silva, P., Costa, L., Campbell, A.J., Arruda, H., Contrera, F.A.L., Teixeira, J.S.G. & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V.L. (2020). Radiofrequency identification (RFID) reveals long-distance flight and homing abilities of the stingless bee Melipona fasciculata. Apidologie, 51: 240-253.
Pielou, E.C. (1984). The interpretation of ecological data. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 262 p.
Pérez, K. (2016). Determinación del origen botánico de mieles de Melipona beecheii Bennett (Apidae, Meliponini) en meliponarios de la provincia de Mayabeque. Degree work. La Habana: Facultad de Agronomía. Universidad Agraria de La Habana, 51 p.
Pérez-Piñeiro, A. (2017). La apicultura en cuba y su situación actual. Agroecología, 12: 67-73.
Pérez-Sato, M., Flores-Garrido, A.F., Castro-González, N.P., Escobar-Hernández, R., Soni-Guillermo, E. & Pérez-Hernández, H. (2018). Análisis palinológico de la miel de Apis mellifera L., producida en el Altiplano del estado de Puebla, México. Guía para autores. AGRO Productividad, 11: 98-104.
Pérez de Zabalza, A. (1989). Estudio palinológico de las mieles de Navarra. Doctoral Thesis. Navarra: Universidad de Navarra. 268 p.
RAE. (2017). Ganado. Madrid: Real Academia Española. http://dle.rae.es/?id=IpmVKGf.
Ramalho, M. (1990). Foraging by stingless bees of the genus Scaptotrigona (Apidae, Meliponinae). Journal of Apicultural Research, 29: 61 -67.
Ramalho, M., Kleinert-Giovannini, A. & Imperatriz-Fonseca, V. L. (1990). Important bee plants for stingless bees (Melipona and Trigonini) and Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera) in neotropical habitats: a review. Apidologie, 21: 469-488.
Ramalho, M. (2004). Stingless bees and mass flowering trees in the canopy of Atlantic Forest: a tight relationship. Acta Botanica Brasilica, 18: 37-47.
Rezende, A.C.C., Absy, M.L., Ferreira, M.G. & Marinho, H.A. (2020). Honey botanical origin of stingless bees (Apidae Meliponini) in the Nova América community of the Sateré Mawé indigenous tribe, Amazon, Brazil. Grana, 59: 304-318.
Rodríguez, A. (2005). Estudio del forrajeo de polen por obreras de Melipona fasciata (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) en el piedemonte llanero colombiano (Acacías-Meta-Colombia). IV Seminario Mesoamericano sobre abejas sin aguijón. Chalatenango, El Salvador.
Sáenz, C. & Gómez, C. (2000). Mieles españolas. Características e identificación mediante el análisis de polen. Madrid: Ed. Mundi prensa. 129 p.
Sánchez, L. (2001). Métodos palinológicos. Curso de capacitación. PROMABOS. San Salvador, El Salvador.
Sánchez, E., Rodríguez, D., Sánchez, S., Vega, E. & Sánchez, J. (2018). Sobre la metodología en los estudios melisopalinológicos. Coimbra: V Congreso Ibérico de Apicultura.
Shannon C.E. & Weaver W. (1949). The mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press, 117 p.
Soto, M.A.V. (2007). Recursos polínicos utilizados por la abeja nativa Shuruya (Scaptotrigona pectoralis) (Apidae: Meliponini) en un meliponario de la parte baja de los cipresales em Pachalum, Quiché, durante la época seca y lluviosa. Doctoral Thesis. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas y Farmacia, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. 73 p.
Terrab, A., Pontes, A., Heredia FJ. & Diez, M.J. (2004). Palynological and geographical characterization of avocado honeys in Spain. Grana, 43: 116-121.
Vossler, F.G. (2015). Small pollen grain volumes and sizes dominate the diet composition of three South American subtropical stingless bees. Grana, 54: 68-81.
Wittig, R. & Becker, U. (2010). The spontaneous flora around street trees in cities – A striking example for the worldwide homogenization of the flora of urban habitats. Flora-Morphology, Distribution. Functional Ecology of Plants, 205: 704-709.
Zappi, D.C., Gastauer, M., Ramos, S., Nunes, S., Caldeira, C. F., Souza-Filho, P.W., Guimarães, J.T.F., Giannini, T.C., Viana, V.P.L., Lovo, J., Mota, N.F.O. & Siqueira, J.O. (2018). Plantas nativas para recuperação de áreas de mineração em Carajás. Belém, PA: Instituto Tecnológico Vale (ITV). 282 p.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Leydi Fonte Carballo, David Rodríguez de la Cruz, José Sánchez Sánchez, Estefanía Sánchez Reyes, Walberto Lóriga Peña, Jorge Demedio Lorenzo, Maykelis Díaz Solares, Dariel Morales Querol
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
eISSN 2447-8067
