Primary, secondary and tertiary nesting preference of the uruçu bee (Melipona scutellaris Latreille, 1811) in octagonal hives

• Autor(a) principal: Fernandes, Teotônio Lucas Sabino
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Aquino, Italo de Souza, Silva, Aleff Santos, Araujo, João Victor Barrêto, Barbosa, Alex da Silva, Borges, Péricles de Farias
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista JRG de Estudos Acadêmicos
• Texto Completo: http://revistajrg.com/index.php/jrg/article/view/814
• topic: Abelhas sem-ferrão; Meliponíneos; Orientação Magnética; Stingless bees; Meliponines; Magnetic Orientation

In recent years, research carried out in northeastern Brazil has investigated the magnetic influence on bee nesting habits in relation to cardinal and collateral points. The uruçu bee (Melipona scutellaris), native and widely found in the state of Paraíba, exhibits distinct nesting habits, making it pertinent to investigate its preferences in octagonal hives. This study aimed to identify the primary, secondary and tertiary nesting preferences of M. scutellaris in octagonal hives. The experiment took place at the Seedling Production Nursery (VPM), at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), located in Bananeiras, PB. 10 octagonal hives were used, each with 8 holes representing the cardinal points (N, S, E and W) and collaterals (NE, SE, SO and NO). Distributed in the VPM with a spacing of 2.0 m, the uruçu bees were monitored regarding the closure of the holes at three times daily (08:00, 12:00 and 16:00) from June 11th to July 27th, 2023. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics with bar charts and radar charts. The results demonstrate that, among all the holes opened in the ten hives, the South (S) and Southeast (SE) directions were preferred by M. scutellaris, both with 10 choices, followed by the East with 8 choices, and Southwest with 2. It was noted- There is a similar pattern between secondary and tertiary choices when compared to primaries at the same angle. Furthermore, the choice time was longer for primary nests and reduced for secondary and tertiary nests, indicating the preference of bees close to the primary nest. The greatest rejection of the holes was observed in the afternoon, coinciding with the second and third daily observations. It is concluded that Melipona scutellaris bees, installed in octagonal hives, in Bananeiras-PB, have a primary nesting preference for the Southeast (SE), secondary for the South (S) and tertiary East (L).