Suchergebnisse

Beekeeping is an economic activity of the Brazilian agricultural sector and a powerful tool to achieve sustainable development. However, beekeeping still remains a modest activity compared to other areas, with a lack of technical knowledge and beekeeping practices that need to be standardized. This study represents a proposal for the diagnosis of beekeeping, to facilitate decision-making and to provide a faster development of the beekeeping activity. We investigated the process of adoption of beekeeping practices of 28 beekeepers and the quality of the honey produced by them in the Western region of Paraná, using the technique of Principal Components Analysis after the construction of apicultural indexes. Specifically, the honey produced in the Western region of Paraná be included in the requirements of national and international legislation, but the beekeeping practices adopted still require standardization so that the beekeepers have higher honey production. Also, the transformation of variables into apicultural indexes for later use in the analysis of principal components proved to be efficient to draw a beekeeping profile. Our research proves to be efficient in accurately diagnosing beekeeping bottlenecks, which may enable better decision-making and thus attract new entrepreneurs and increase their relevance to achieve sustainable rural development.

Traditionally, melissopalynological and physicochemical analyses have been the most used to determine the botanical origin of honey. However, when performed individually, these analyses may provide less unambiguous results, making it difficult to discriminate between mono and multifloral honeys. In this context, with the aim of better characterizing this beehive product, a selection of 112 Lavandula spp. monofloral honey samples from several regions were evaluated by association of multivariate statistical techniques with physicochemical, melissopalynological and phenolic compounds analysis. All honey samples fulfilled the quality standards recommended by international legislation, except regarding sucrose content and diastase activity. The content of sucrose and the percentage of Lavandula spp. pollen have a strong positive association. In fact, it was found that higher amounts of sucrose in honey are related with highest percentage of pollen of Lavandula spp. The samples were very similar for most of the physicochemical parameters, except for proline, flavonoids and phenols (bioactive factors). Concerning the pollen spectrum, the variation of Lavandula spp. pollen percentage in honey had little contribution to the formation of samples groups. The formation of two groups regarding the physicochemical parameters suggests that the presence of other pollen types in small percentages influences the factor termed as "bioactive", which has been linked to diverse beneficial health effects. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Products based on entomopathogenic fungi are extensively used to control insect pests. These biopesticides can result in lethal or sublethal effects on non-target organisms. This study aimed to evaluate the survival of Melipona scutellaris Latreille workers exposed to commercial products based on Beauveria bassiana (IBCB 66), Metarhizium anisopliae (IBCB 425), and Isaria fumosorosea (ESALQ 1296). Fifty foragers were exposed to B. bassiana at 8.25 x 106 conidia/mL, M. anisopliae at 1.1 x 107 conidia/mL, and I. fumosorosea at 2.5 x 109 conidia/mL, using three routes of exposure (ingestion, contact with a surface, and topical application). Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated to determine the proportion of workers surviving after each application of the biopesticides. Workers exposed to B. bassiana, M. anisopliae, and I. fumosorosea presented survival rates of 74%, 34%, and 42%, respectively, after 168 hours of exposure by ingestion. For exposure via contact with a contaminated surface, survival rates were 64%, 70%, and 78%; for topical application, 68%, 66%, and 72% of the workers survived, respectively. The results highlight the variability in toxicity of biopesticides based on M. anisopliae, B. bassiana, and I. fumosorosea for M. scutellaris workers. Although all biopesticides resulted in mortality, bee survival rates varied depending on the exposure route. Understanding the effect of entomopathogenic fungi-based products on M. scutellaris may facilitate the development of strategies (such as timing and frequency of spraying) to reduce their impact on bees.

Melipona scutellaris (Apidae, Meliponini) is one of the main species of stingless bees used in beekeeping in the Northeast of Brazil. We examined the honey from M. scutellaris as an indicator to evaluate the levels of metals at sampling sites subject to a broad spectrum of environmental pollutants. The collections were carried out in the urban-industrial area of Salvador, Bahia and the metropolitan region. Samples (n= 58) were submitted to the nitroperchloric digestion procedure. We used the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry technique (ICP OES) to determine the concentration of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the samples. The studied metals were detected among the samples, which presented tolerable levels according to current Brazilian legislation and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), except for Cr, which presented mean values higher than the threshold for all sampling sites. The detection of the analyzed metals indicates that the honey of M. scutellaris is a useful tool to evaluate the presence of environmental contaminants; therefore, it can be considered a good indicator of environmental contamination for monitoring a particular region and preventing issues due to the release of metals into the environment.

Melipona scutellaris (Apidae, Meliponini) is one of the main species of stingless bees used in beekeeping in the Northeast of Brazil. We examined the honey from M. scutellaris as an indicator to evaluate the levels of metals at sampling sites subject to a broad spectrum of environmental pollutants. The collections were carried out in the urban-industrial area of Salvador, Bahia and the metropolitan region. Samples (n= 58) were submitted to the nitroperchloric digestion procedure. We used the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry technique (ICP OES) to determine the concentration of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the samples. The studied metals were detected among the samples, which presented tolerable levels according to current Brazilian legislation and recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), except for Cr, which presented mean values higher than the threshold for all sampling sites. The detection of the analyzed metals indicates that the honey of M. scutellaris is a useful tool to evaluate the presence of environmental contaminants; therefore, it can be considered a good indicator of environmental contamination for monitoring a particular region and preventing issues due to the release of metals into the environment.

Bees of genus Apis are the main crop pollinators; however, the use of pesticides in agriculture may intoxicate them during foraging. In this study, we evaluated the toxic eff ects caused by difenoconazole (fungicide), fenpyroximate (acaricide) and mineral oil (adjuvant) used alone and associated (pesticide + adjuvant) on workers of Apis mellifera L. Bees were exposed to product doses recommended by manufacturers, orally and in contact on a contaminated surface in a controlled environment. All products presented low lethality, both in isolation and combination (except for difenoconazole via contact), however, they all showed toxic effects. The results showed that combination of pesticides with adjuvant augmented toxic eff ects.