Microbiological quality of honey bee Melipona scutellaris

Abstract

With the development of commercial establishment of native bees, there has been a greatinterest in the identification and characterization of honey come from stingless bees, to characterise it as food and also as a bactericide. Given this, this study aims to examine the characteristics of microbiological of honey bees Melipona scutellaris. The experiment was conducted in the Meliponário Module of Beekeeping and silkworm farming and the Laboratory of Plant, belonging to the Centre of Agricultural Sciences, Federal University of Paraiba, Campus II, during the period August 2007 to August 2008. The honey used for conducting the survey was from hives of bees M. scutellaris (uruçu) nest in Meliponário Sector of Beekeeping in commercial boxes that were numbered 1 to 7 for identification. The honey was placed on plates containing half BDA (Potato Dextrose Agar), totaling 7 treatments and 5 repetitions. All the honey used was from the Goupia glabra Aubl. The honey from hives had microorganisms that ranged from Penicilium digitatum, Penicilium sp, Aspergillus flavus, and yeasts and bacteria not identified.