Floral sources used by bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in a savannah area of Cassilândia county, Mato Grosso do Sul, BrazilThe aim of this study is listing the plants visited by bees in a savannah area of Cassilândia/MS, Brazil (19°06'48"S; 51°44'03"W) to develop bee plant catalogue. The data were obtained twice a month from March/2003 to February/2004, along a 3 km track. The flora was represented by 49 species, 41 genera and 26 families. The Malpighiaceae family presented the highest number of visited species (12,2%) and Sapindaceae family the highest number of bees collected (18%). Regarding to the trofic niche used by bees, only Apis mellifera and Trigona spinipes presented collection activity in a great number of plants so that, 36,7% of the total of identified plant species was visited by the two species. The different blossom periods of plant species in savannah guarantee the occurrence of feed source for bees during all year long.
Apis mellifera; blossom period; feed source; melliferous flora; Trigona spinipes
