Meliponiculture, the creation of stingless bees, is a bioeconomic activity practiced in the
Amazon, especially by the populations of traditional communities. The activity fits into the
concepts of sustainable use of natural resources and therefore considers the ecological
importance of the insect/plant interaction as the main pollinating agents. The honey
produced by bees from the nectar collected from flowers is the product from the hive most
used by humans, either as food or for medicinal purposes. However, the physicochemical
composition, quality and sensory characteristicsare influenced by seasonality, botanical
origin of the nectar, edaphoclimatic and entomological conditions, harvesting, processing
and storage methods. The characterization of honey from stinglessbees from the Lower
Amazon, originating from the rational creation of urban meliponaries, is still scarce,
therefore, the objective of this study was to know the pollen spectrum, to evaluate if there
isa difference in the physical-chemical profile and in the volatile constituents of honey
samples from six species of native stingless bees, rationally reared in an urban meliponary
in Belterra, Pará, Brazil. To this end, 12 samples of honey from stingless bees were
collected directly from the hives using techniques of good manufacturing practices, in two
periods: May (rainy period) and October (less rainy period) of 2021. Pollen analyzes of the
honeys were carried out , through melissopalynology and physicochemical (acidity index,
total ash, pH, humidity and soluble solids, viscosity and HMF).The volatile constituents
were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC- MS). The
results were divided into two chapters, which are presented in the format of a manuscript
submitted or to be submitted. In chapter I we evaluated the pollen spectrum of honey
samples from different species of stingless bees (Scaptotrigona aff. xanthotricha,
Scaptotrigona polysticta, Tetragona clavipes, Tetragonisca angustula, Melipona
seminigra, Friseomelitta longipes), where it was observed that the bees collected 90 pollen
types in the rainy period (May) and 102 types in the less rainy period (October). The results
showed that the pollen diversity observed in the samples varied between bee species and
suggest that Tetragona clavipes is the most generalist species while Melipona seminigra
has less diversified botanical visitation. In chapter II, the results obtained revealed that the
samples of honey from native stingless bee species collected in the urban meliponaryof
Belterra, Pará, Brazil were consistent with the parameters indicated by current legislation
with regard to pH, total acidity, to the ash content and the amounts of HMF. However, as expected, the moisture content was above that required by current legislation in 11 samples.
It is worth mentioningthat even though the harvest was carried out considering the criteria
of good manufacturing practices,the moisture content remained high and is an inherent
characteristic of honey from stingless bees. The result regarding the electrical conductivity
is related to the ash and acidity content, and the viscosity are related to the characteristics
of the producing species, handling and environmental characteristics. The profiles of
volatile constituents varied between producing species and harvest period, even with hives
installed in the same environment.
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