Meliponiculture, the name given to stingless bee keeping, is a practical example of the concepts of diversification of sustainable use in Amazonia. It is an activity that can be integrated into forestry, fruit crop plantation and short cycle cultivar and can contribute through pollination to the increase of the agricultural production and regeneration of natural vegetation. The objective of this work was to evaluate the introduction of management techniques for the bee keeping of the bee known as uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata) among the traditional beekeepers in Bragança, Pará State, Brazil. Using participative methods, from June to December of 2002, 30 families of bee, in rustic bee boxes, were replaced for boxes adapted to improve colony multiplication and increase honey production. Traditional method are described, evaluated and compared with the new method. Results demonstrated the new system to be efficient and economically viable, increasing the amount of honey obtained, facilitating crop yield and producing honey under stricter conditions of hygiene. The blooming period coincides with the dry period, in the area ranging from June to December. The largest honey production occurred, however, between August and November. The most important botanical species in the constitution of the honeys include: cashew (Anacardium occidentale - Anacardiaceae), cashew-açu (A. giganteum - Anacardiaceae), mangrovesiriuba (Avicennia nitida - Avicenniaceae), sapateira (Miconia minutiflora - Melastomataceae) and lacre (Vismia guianensis - Clusiaceae). The adopted method was well accepted, piquing interest of experienced creators’ as well as of the community in general.
Meliponiculture; Bee; Family agriculture; Sustainable management; Amazon