Multiplicações, em condições experimentais, caracterização físico- química e nutricional do mel, produtividade de mel e pólen e indução da produção in vitro de rainhas de Scaptotrigona xanthotricha Moure, 1950 (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE : MELIPONINA) na Amazônia

Abstract

The Amazon represents a great biome with a fauna and flora diversity and abundance still scientifically unknown. To contribute with information about the regional Meliponini, efforts for the acquisition of the stingless bee or small jandaíra (Scaptotrigona xanthotricha Moure, 1950) were invested to attend four aims: 1- to test a model of a standard-box, with less volume, for the bee-keeping of the species and to compare it with the performance of INPA’s standard-box, this being the most used standard-box for a great number of Brazilian Meliponini; 2- to physic chemically characterize the species’ honey under the Amazonian conditions; 3- to evaluate the honey’s and pollen’s productivity; 4- to test the possibility of in vitro formation of S. xanthotricha’s queen bees with overfeeding of its larvae. The project was carried out at the Bee Research Group (GPA/INPA), from the species’ 10 colonies bee kept in rustic boxes, acquired in the city of Belterra/PA, once there were not enough swarms according to the previous established criteria for the accomplishment of the project. When they got to the Amazon, they were adequately managed for its acclimation and, after 30 days installed, they were transferred to the standard-boxes with different volumes. Attending to the 1 st aim, after the successive multiplication, which happened from October/06 to July/07, it was obtained 52 daughter colonies, from these being, 27 for the CANUDO bee standard-box model and 25 for the INPA standard-box model. The volume of the stingless bee standard-box contributed to a rapid occupation of the space, and, thus a great number of colonies could be multiplied in less time, however, when statistics was applied to the confidence intervals (95%) for the average of the colonies’ performance, they did not show any statistic difference. Attending to the 2 nd aim, for the honey’s physical-chemical and nutritional characterization, honey was collected in November and December/07 and January/08 and the analysis was carried out in the laboratories of the Federal University (UFAM), using the specific procedures for each one of the seven established parameters. Amongst these, only the pH (3,55%) and ashes (0,36%) showed average values that were adequate for consumption. Information like this contributes for the acknowledgement of the diversity of honey that can be found in Brazil, helping a proposition of honey standardizing in this group of bees. Allied to the physical-chemical and nutritional characteristic, there was also the verification of the capacity of the species’ honey and pollen production, in Manaus. Attending to the 3 rd aim, the collecting for the honey and pollens’ productivity quantification were carried out in September/08 and December/08. After the quantification, there was the replacement of the 25% most productive physogastric queen bees for the least productive. Concomitantly, the intermediate colonies were also monitored. It was obtained for the 1 st collecting period 2.189,5 L (before the replacement) and for the 2nd collecting period 1.449 L (after the replacement). There was not pollen storage during the project’s development. In the end, the 25% most productive colonies remained as the most productive ones whilst the least productive remained as the least productive, but only one turned into an intermediate one, even though there was no gain in production, as well as the other less productive. The period of the year in which the collection occurred could have influenced in the little production of the colonies. Attending to the 4 th aim, the necessity of finding Meliponicultors that had some species’ swarms available was the first difficulty for the development of the Thesis. For that, the thought of making some swarms from the induction of the formation of in vitro queen bees with the overfeeding of larvae available was considered. From new bee hatches were collected larvae food and the daily posture, they were then taken to the laboratory for the filling procedure of 192 wells of the ELISA PLATE with 90 μl of homogenized larvae food and the plates were taken to the heater, with controlled temperature and humidity. After 52 days of incubation, 21 virgin S. xanthotricha’s queen bees emerged, 11% of the sample. It is possible to form queens artificially, since measures for the adjustment of the methodology are taken to reduce the contamination observed along the project.