Knowledge of beekeepers from the Santiago community in Bela Vista do Piauí about the relevance of bees for honey production and the environment

Abstract

Bees are considered important bioindicators of environmental quality, developing relationships with local flora that guarantee the balance of ecosystems and are responsible for the production of various products, such as royal jelly, propolis, wax, apitoxin, pollen and honey, which is a fundamental resource. in beekeeping. In this context, the aim is to analyze the knowledge of beekeepers in the Santiago community, in the municipality of Bela Vista do Piauí, about the relevance of bees for honey production and the environment. To this end, a semi-structured questionnaire was applied on beekeepers' knowledge about the importance of bees for the environment and their relevance for honey production in the community. The research was carried out between December 2023 and January 2024, involving 40 beekeepers who work with honey production in the rural area of the municipality. The results revealed that beekeepers have a good level of knowledge about bee biodiversity and its importance for the ecosystem and honey production, making it possible to observe that beekeeping has great potential in the region. This study serves as a reference for future work, especially for training and raising awareness among beekeepers.

Keywords

• knowledge
• apis mellifera
• ecosystem.