Daily Rhythm of Pollen Production by Apis mellifera L(Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Sorriso, Mato Grosso State, Brazil

Abstract

Insect pollinators are important in reproduction of several plants species increasing the agricultural productivity and the quality of the food. Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is an important plant pollinator besides its fundamental role in the pollen based products often used in food and pharmaceutical industry. In the field of beekeeping, the palynology is important in botanical biodiversity studies, because pollen provides information about environmental quality. The understanding of the time frequency of pollen collection by A. mellifera can give additional information about the foraging behavior of this bee species in studies about daily and seasonal availability of pollen for plants, mainly during the periods of lower activity of the bee colony. The aim of this research was to study the time frequency of pollen production by A. mellifera in Sorriso, Mato Grosso State, Brazil and to observe the effect of the temperature, relative humidity and sunlight on this activity of this bee. The period with higher pollen production was between 10:00 AM until 01:00 PM and this period can be characterized by higher sunlight and temperature with lower relative humidity periods.

Keywords

• Pollination
• foraging activity
• climatic effects