FLORAL BIOLOGY AND BEEKEEPING POTENTIAL OF Croton heliotropiifolius KUNTH (EUPHORBIACEAE) AT SEMI ARID REGION, BRAZIL¹

BIOLOGIA FLORAL E POTENCIAL APÍCOLA DE Croton heliotropiifolius KUNTH (EUPHORBIACEAE) NA REGIÃO DO SEMI-ÁRIDO, BRASIL

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to determine the beekeeping potential of Croton heliotropiifolius Kunth (Euphorbiaceae) based on flowering strategy, floral characteristics, available floral resources, and the individuals frequencies and foraging activities of Apis mellifera L. on its flowers in Fazenda Ingazeira, Brazil. Each C. heliotropiifolius plant possessed inconspicuous diclinous flowers clustered into $560\pm 60$ dense terminal inflorescences containing $59\pm 12$ pistillate and $160\pm 26$ staminate flowers. Although both types of flowers produced nectar (pistillate: $2.8\pm 0.8\text{μL}$ ; staminate: $0.3\pm 0.06\text{μL}$ ), A. mellifera workers mostly visited staminate flowers (98%) during the peak visitation period (08:00-11:00 h). Moreover, during the foraging period, each plant produced approximately $5.376\times {10}^8$ pollen grains, ensuring approximately 33 visitation cycles from a colony of A mellifera workers that picked up an average of 405 pollen grains per visit per flower. Further, C. heliotropiifolius showed an annual cornucopia flowering strategy with high flower production for five months, which is an important characteristic that ensures floral resource availability in the environment. These findings suggest that C. heliotropiifolius has a great potential for apiculture in this region.

Keywords:
Apiculture; Apis mellifera L.; Caatinga; Floral resources