Quilombolas: honey production in family beekeeping in the Ribeira Valley, São Paulo

• Autor(a) principal: Cano, Cristiane Bonaldi
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Luz, Cynthia Fernandes Pinto da, Pando, Angela Maria da Silva Corrêa, Esteves, Luciano Mauricio, Barros, Maria Amelia Vitorino Cruz, Bosco, Laura Benitez, Rossi, Iara, Viotti, Marcos Roberto, Pereira, Altair de Matos, Ferigolli, Emiliana Gomes
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Vigilância Sanitária em Debate
• Texto Completo: https://visaemdebate.incqs.fiocruz.br/index.php/visaemdebate/article/view/428
• topic: Mel; Comunidades Quilombolas; Apicultura Familiar; Honey; Quilombolas Communities; Family Beekeeping

Family beekeeping (small-scale beekeeping) is an essential activity for economic and ecological farming systems (with its contribution to pollination), which aims to bring social inclusion, fixed income, and sustainable ecological bases. This study aimed to identify the current profile of honey production in five quilombolas communities in the São Paulo Ribeira Valley (Cangume, Pilões, Piririca, Porto Velho, and Ribeirão Grande/Terra Seca), with reference to the social and environmental aspects as well as beekeeping practices. The results suggest that the social aspects of family beekeeping can be considered a second income. In these communities, however, sanitation problems, including lack of potable water resources and mining contamination, differ between communities. With the study of georeferencing, we were able to establish local environmental conditions, which served as the basis for the floristic inventory of 85 plant species distributed in 32 botanical families. The analyses of air temperature and relative humidity and honey humidity indicated that the honey was influenced by climatic conditions and the processes adopted, since the measures of pH and EC suggest a correlation with the botanical origin of honeys. Professional training in maroon communities allowed an awareness of the quality and composition of honey.