Identification of pollen as food resource of honey bees Apis binghami in the village of Bonto Manurung, District of Tompobulu, Regency of Maros
Sitti Nuraeni1*, Nurul Muhliza Syaid1, Andi Sadapotto1, Baharuddin1, Wahyudi2

1Faculty of Forestry Hasanuddin Univesity, Perintis Kemerdekaan Tamalanrea Km10, Makassar, Indonesia.
2Forestry Program, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Sulawesi Barat, Majene, Indonesia

Abstract

The endemic Sulawesi giant honey bee, Apis binghami, cannot be domesticated like other domesticated Apis genus bees. This bee foraging for sources of nectar and pollen from plants around the tree where its nesting.The purpose of this study is to identify the types of plant pollen in bee bread and honey as a means of identifying the food source of A. binghami forest bees and analyzing the category of honey they produce. The method used to extract pollen from honey and bee bread was acetolysis, a modified Erdtman method^s. The research found nine types of plant pollen in bee bread and seven in honey as food sources for A. binghami from samples collected from Bonto Manurung Village, Maros Regency. Aren palm (Arengan pinnata) pollen had the highest percentage frequency as a secondary pollen type group, along with mango (Mangifera sp) and kapok tree (Ceiba petandra). Other types of plant pollen were classified as important minor pollen type and minor pollen type, resulting in honey from the hunting location of Bonto Manurung Village being categorized as multifloral honey.

Keywords: pollen extraction, honey, bee bread, Apis binghami

Topic: Topik E: Biodiversity and ecotourism