Aspectos bioecológicos de interesse zootécnico da abelha Uruçu do Chão (Melipona Quinquefasciata)

Abstract

The Melipona quinquefasciata bee nests in the ground and occurs in the Brazilian Northeast areas. However, its exploration in this region still happens in an extractive manner which makes the knowledge about that bee a bit narrow. This has also contributed to the endangerment of that species. Based on that, this research aimed to build up scientific knowledge that can help to develop a rational management system for M. quinquefasciata. With this intention, the nesting behavior of this species was described and the influence of environmental conditions and different types of beehives (wooden box and ceramic pot) in the flight activity of this bee was evaluated. It was also identified its major natural enemies in the research area. The study was conducted from November 2013 until July 2015 in the Araripe Plateau and it was divided into three experiments. On the first one, the collect and evaluation of the structures of wild nests of M. quinquefasciata was held, supplemented with information generated by the monthly monitoring of nests in two meliponaries. One meliponary was located in Barbalha-CE (with wild colonies recently collected) and the other one was located in Moreilândia-PE (composed of colonies managed for three years). Both of them contained 10 colonies (five in wooden boxes and five in ceramic pots). On the second experiment, the influence of environmental conditions and of the two types of beehives (wooden box and ceramic pot) in the external activity of managed colonies of M. quinquefasciata was evaluated. In this experiment, monthly observations of the flight flow of the worker bees were made and weather information was collected. In meliponary 1, three colonies in ceramic pots and four in wooden pots were observed while in meliponary 2, five colonies in ceramic pots and four wooden boxes were observed. The observations were carried out for five days. Each colony was monitored for 5 minutes in one-hour interval between 5a.m. to 5p.m., in a period of 12 months. Still in meliponary 1, data of internal temperature and humidity of the colonies were collected every hour of the day, throughout the year. The third experiment was conducted only in meliponary 1 and aimed at identifying the natural enemies of M. quinquefasciata. During 12 months, ten managed colonies were inspected monthly. In these inspections, the hives were checked internally for predators and the efficiency of two types of attractive substances to phorids (vinegar and vinegar + pollen) was tested. For additional information, ten wild colonies were also observed in the surrounds of meliponary 1, for a year, in biweekly visit intervals, with the same goal of identifying their predators. The main results observed in the first experiment were that most of the M. quinquefasciata nests were located in clusters in an area of sparse vegetation. The internal diameter of the entrance towers were 9.68 ± 1.66mm (CV=11.98%), while the average number of pots per nest was 54.2 ± 116.98 (CV=99.13%) and average depth of 1.29 ± 1,03m nests. All collected nests had an external bitumen casing. The key difference observed in the constructive behavior between the wild and the managed nests was the absence of external bitumen casing in the managed ones. In both meliponaries, it was observed that, in the warmer months of the year, disks of young bees were built outside the wax casing. The results of the experiment 2 showed that the species had flying activity between temperatures of 19.6 to 33.5 °C, humidity of 38.0 to 80.4% and light 210 - 20,000 Lux. The temperature was positively correlated with a nectar/water collect and negatively with pollen collect, with an inverse relation with the humidity. The light intensity influenced positively all types of collect of the species, however, the collecting pollen high peak occurred between 6a.m and 7a.m, with temperature under 23 °C and about 80% of humidity. The nectar/water collect high peak occurred between 2p.m and 4p.m, with temperatures close to 31 °C and humidity around 55%. The total flow of bees entrance was higher in the drier periods of the year, in both meliponary 1 (dry = 2.82 ± 0.22; damp = 1.19 ± 0.22) and meliponary 2 (dry = 2,19 ± 0.31; humid 2.17 ± 0.29). The average internal temperature of the ceramic pots and the wooden boxes was, in the dry period, 22.08 ± 0.31 and 21.89 ± 0.29, respectively. In the humid period, it was 23.34 ± 0.48 and 23.20 ± 0.25, respectively. The ceramic pots presented a higher average (p <0.01) than the wooden boxes. The internal humidity average of the hives was also higher in the ceramic pot and the averages of the humid period to both pots and boxes were, respectively, 89.35 ± 0.94 and 86.47 ± 0.11, while in the dry season averages in pots were 87.41 ± 0.56 and 82.24 ± 0.74 in the boxes. The results of Experiment 3 showed that the average number of phorids captured in external traps was not different (p> 0.05) between the wooden boxes (23.31 ± 3.81) and the ceramic pots (12.40 ± 1.03) and the average number of phorids internally captured was not different (p> 0.05) among the colonies of wooden box (24.81 ± 4.18) and ceramic jars (18.96 ± 3 59). The external traps with pollen + vinegar in the wooden boxes (48.48 ± 8.37) and in the ceramic pots (35.52 ± 6.75) collected twice as many phorids (p <0.05) as in the traps with vinegar only, both in the wooden boxes (23.31 ± 3.81) and in the ceramic pots (12.40 ± 1.03). Also, they were more efficient than the internal traps that collected an average of 24.81 ± 4.18 in the wooden boxes and 18.96 ± 3.59 in the ceramic pots. It was concluded that the basic construction behavior of the species changes when it is under management. However, these differences do not invalidate its creation in hives. M. quinquefasciata activity is influenced by climatic variables, availability of resources and the type of material used in the manufacture of the hives. The ceramic pots provided better ambience to the colonies. The most significant predators of M. quinquefasciata in the study area were the flies (Diptera Phorida) and Lestrimelitta rufa bee; however, the traps for phorid containing vinegar + pollen were the most efficient way to control this pest.