Vanessa Ribeiro Matos

Bees in the Amazon play an essential role beyond honey, pollen, and propolis production, acting as key pollinators of native flora. Understanding the floral resources used by Scaptotrigona nigrohirta supports meliponiculture, a sustainable regional activity. A melissopalynological analysis was performed on twelve honey samples to determine the botanical origin of the pollen in honey produced by this species and to support conservation strategies. Samples were processed using the acetolysis method, with at least 500 pollen grains counted per sample. Sixty-five pollen types were identified, belonging to 24 families, 34 genera, and 21 species. Anacardiaceae, Fabaceae, and Myrtaceae were the most representative families. These results help guide melliferous plant management by indicating which plant species should be prioritized, protected, and incorporated into restoration or planting strategies according to their importance as floral resources throughout the year. This approach supports the maintenance of Scaptotrigona nigrohirta colonies and contributes to the development of meliponiculture.

Quality parameters, physical-chemical characteristics, and antioxidant capacity are important to ensure the successful commercialization of honey. On the other hand, the presence of antioxidants in foods gives them greater added value. Thus, based on the study of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), along with the analysis of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and total flavonoid compounds (TFC), it is possible to classify honey according to its composition. First, all the samples were evaluated according to their polinic origin (melissopalynological analysis). The TAC was determined using both spectrophotometric methods (ferric reducing antioxidant power, FRAP) and electrochemical methods (ceric reducing antioxidant capacity, CRAC). All types of honey exhibited significant values for TAC, TPC, and TFC. To assess honey quality, methodologies such as moisture content, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), total acidity (TA), and water activity (A _w) were employed. Among the analyzed samples, 5 and 2 honey showed high levels of moisture (20.10-20.87%), TA (65.12-65.49 mequiv kg^-1), and HMF (>60 mg kg^-1), surpassing the limits set by Brazilian legislation. This indicates a potentially longer shelf life or the possibility of adulteration. Furthermore, it was concluded that the color of honey may interfere with FRAP (r = 0.837). In this regard, the CRAC assay presents a new alternative for evaluating TAC in bee products.

A catalogação polínica pode auxiliar na investigação das plantas usadas na dieta de polinizadores de uma determinada região. Esse trabalho teve como objetivo descrever o pólen de espécies vegetais de importância para polinizadores presentes no campus da Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, em Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ. A coleta de dados foi feita no entorno do prédio da Ecologia Experimental e nos principais plantios ornamentais de espécies arbóreas do campus. As espécies foram identificadas, coletadas, anteras retiradas, mantidas em ácido acético glacial, acetolisadas e preparadas lâminas em triplicata. Os grãos de pólen foram fotomicrografados, medidos e descritos quanto às principais características externas. Foram descritas 30 espécies vegetais das seis principais famílias botânicas em floração durante o período do estudo (fevereiro de 2023 a maio de 2024). O desenvolvimento deste trabalho poderá fornecer subsídios para a melhor compreensão das interações ecológicas entre visitantes florais e plantas nos ambientes urbanos.

Melipona scutellaris (uruçu) é endêmica da região Nordeste do Brasil, poliniza um número diversificado de espécies de plantas e é importante na manutenção da biodiversidade dos biomas da região, como a Mata Atlântica. O presente trabalho analisou 16 amostras de geoprópolis produzidas por esta abelha em uma área de Mata Atlântica no município de Entre Rios (Bahia). As quais foram processadas seguindo a técnica de acetólise com modificações sugeridas para geoprópolis. 75 tipos de pólen foram encontrados, dos quais 59 foram identificados como pertencentes a 28 famílias botânicas. A família Fabaceae foi a mais importante com 12 tipos polínicos identificados. Os gêneros Cecropia (Urticaceae), Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae), Mimosa pudica (Fabaceae) e Myrcia I (Myrtaceae) estiveram presentes em todas as amostras analisadas. Os tipos polínicos Protium heptaphyllum (Buseraceae) e Schinus terebinthifolia (Anacardiaceae), ambos utilizados como fonte de resina pelas abelhas, apresentaram frequências de distribuição de 56,25% e 81,25%, respectivamente.

Apis mellifera is a bee that was introduced to Brazil and has adapted very well to the climate conditions and vast diversity of plants that exist in the country. In the northeast region of Brazil, beekeepers make use of the association between bees and plants by selling various bee products, notably honey. One way to identify species visited by bees in an area is by the pollen in its products. Based on this, 16 samples of honey were analysed, which were collected over a period of two years and obtained from an apiary in the Atlantic Forest biome in the municipality of Entre Rios (Bahia). In addition, climatic data (precipitation and temperature) of the region were obtained for the months sampled. The average temperature of the region during the collection months varied from 22 to 28 °C. The highest precipitation recorded in the region was 133.7 mm³ and the lowest was 0.3 mm³. Seventy pollen types were found. The family Fabaceae was notable, with ten pollen types, of which Mimosa pudica was the most important with a high frequency of occurrence and distribution. The Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) pollen type also had a high frequency of occurrence and distribution. In addition, pollen types corresponding to species that supply nectar to bees were identified, which contributes to the large diversity of bee plants for Apis mellifera in the study area.