IMPORTÂNCIA DAS FLORES DO CIPÓ DE SÃO JOÃO (Pyrostegia venusta) PARA A CONSERVAÇÃO DAS ABELHAS

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.1222323108

• Palavras-chave: abelhas, biodiversidade, cipó de São João, comportamento forrageiro

• Keywords: bees, biodiversity, cipó of São João, forage behavior

• Abstract: The study of plants supplying trophic resources to bees is important for the preservation, management and production of beekeeping and meliponiculture. The objective of this research was to study the biodiversity and forage behavior of bees in Pyrostegia venusta inflorescences. This experiment was conducted on a private property in Colina, SP, in 2019 and 2022. The frequency of visitations and the type (nectar and / or pollen) of bees collected in the inflorescences during the day were evaluated. These data were obtained by counting in the first 10 minutes of each time, between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. with three repetitions, during three distinct days. The floral visitors observed on the cipó of São João, in 2019 and 2022, were Africanized honeybess Apis mellifera (84.38%), followed by Trigona spinipes stingless bees (8.70%), Coleoptera (2.68%), hummingbirds (2.23%), Tetragonisca angustula stingless bees (jataí) bees (1.12%), Xylocopa frontalis bumblebees (0.67%) and Lepidoptera (0.22%). This plant species should be planted near apiaries and meliponaries being an important source of food resources for both Africanized and wild bees in dry and cold period.