IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-2

Research article
erdPollen Food Source Diversity of Stingless Bee Tetragonula
pegdeni and Lepidotrigona terminata in Cultivated Area
ANCHALEE SAWATTHUM*Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Thailand
Email: anchsawat@hotmail.com

RAWADEE KUMLERTThe Office of Disease Prevention Control, 12, Songkhla, Thailand
Received 23 February 2015

Accepted 31 May 2015(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Stingless bees play an important role in pollination of local economic crops. During
rainy season, numbers of stingless bee population decline because of lack of food plants. It canlead to colony collapse situation. The main purpose of the first study was to survey the pollen
food source of stingless bees in the beginning of rainy season (June) to dry season (December)in the rambutan orchard plantation area in Chantaburi province. The result revealed that 11
species of blooming flowers in observation area were visited by stingless bees in June, fivespecies in October, and four species in December. The second study aimed to identify speciesof pollen food source from pollen load collected from stingless bees (Tetragonula pegdeni andLepidotrigona terminate) colonies in vegetable planting area. It was found that the mostfavorite plants that stingless bees collected as their pollen food source were amaranth(Amaranthus lividus) and corn (Zea mays. Linn).
Keywords pollen food source, diversity, stingless bee

INTRODUCTION
Pollination for fruit and seed set is very important for most crop plants. It has been estimated that about
30% of human food is derived from bee-pollinated crops (Kearns and Inouye, 1997). Stingless bee is akind of bees considered as an important pollinator of the native flora in tropical and subtropical parts of
the world. Stingless bees have been used as insect pollinators of many crops (Heard, 1999). In easternpart of Thailand, stingless bees have been kept and used as insect pollinators especially for rambutan
for decades (Sawatthum, 2004). In Chantaburi province, several stingless beekeepers sell or rent out
stingless bee hives. To be able to use stingless bees for commercial pollination purpose, proper
management of colonies in hives is very important. As this type of bees can form perennial colonies
from which they forage for food all year-round. Nectar and pollen are food of adult bees as they feed
their larvae with pollen. For the bees, an understanding of their main pollen sources allow us toestablish plantations providing them with pollen and consequently leading to the stability of thecolonies (Kerr et al., 1986). There are a few plants blooming during rainy season in Thailand.
Moreover, it is hard for stingless bee workers to fly out when it rains. These cause lack of storage foodsituation for all members in the colonies, especially pollen for the larvae. These conditions weaken thecolonies and have an affect on the survival of the colonies due to the scarcity of pollens. To reducethese problems, the stingless beekeepers need to know the pollen sources in rambutan plantation(Meliponiary) and in vegetable farms in order to plant them to support pollen for the bees. Pollens fromviable sources are vital inputs that stingless beekeepers should sustainably manage so that the stinglessbee colonies can be protected and promoted for economic and ecologicalpurposes.

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IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2015) 6-2OBJECTIVESThis research was implemented with the following objectives:
1. Observation on flower visited by stingless bees in rambutan plantation
2. Studies of pollen sources of 2 stingless bees in vegetable farm
METHODOLOGY
Plant and Pollen Specimens Collection
Pollen specimens collection: Pollen was collected during the period of greatest pollen scarcity (fewerspecies in the flowering phase). The collecting expedition took place from June to December 2010. The
collection locations were Meliponiary of stingless beekeeping in Wang-Pla sub-district, Thamai district,
Chantaburi province and stingless bee nests were kept in vegetable farm nursery of Crop Production
Department, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Rajamagala University of Technology. Pollen wascollected from bloom flowers around 300 meters far from Meliponiary rambutan plantation in thebeginning of rainy season (June), beginning of dry season (October), during dry season (December),and blooming flowers 300 meters around vegetable farm nursery all year round to be used as reference
pollens. Another pollen samples were collected from bee pollen loading from worker bees in front ofthe nests. Two species of stingless bees were chosen, namely: Tetragonula pegdeni (8 colonies) and
Lepidotrigona terminate (4 colonies). The pollen samples were chemically processed via acetolysis(applied from Erdtman, 1952 and Brown, 1960). The samples were then mounted in glycerin jelly andsealed with paraffin. Three slides were prepared for each sample. Pollen types were determined bycomparing each slide to reference slides (known flowers) and by consulting the specialized literature inthis field.
Plant specimens collection: Flowering plant specimens were collected from both sites at the sametime as collected pollen samples. Five specimens per plant were collected and preserved as herbarium
specimens and identified with the help of specialized literature.
Pollen Sources of Stingless Bees Analysis
Data on flowering plants, types of pollen from pollen loads were matched to the analyzed pollen
sources of both stingless bees.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Flowering plants around Meliponiary in rambutan plantation in Wang-Pla sub-district, Thamai district,
Chantaburi province, visited by stingless bees were observed and sample were collected in June,
October, and December; 2010. The small numbers of blooming flowers visited by stingless bees wasshown in those three observations. Eleven species were found in June, five species in October, and fourspecies in December (Table 1).
The Pollen Source Analysis
The pollen load collected in front of 12 colonies from two species of stingless bee (T. pegdeni and L.
terminata) in vegetable farm showed that pollen of 17 plant species was found in pollen load species
and colonies of stingless bees showed individual character of collecting the various species of pollenplants.
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Table 1 Blooming flowers visited by stingless bee
Month ofobservation
June

Common nameSulfur Cosmos
Goat Weed
Bird Chilli
Hairy Basil.
Holy basil, Sacred BasilJava Tea, Kidney tea, Cat’ sWhiskers
white gourd, wax gourd
White Popinac, Lead Tree,
Wild TamarindAngel face pin

October

DecemberCommon Purslane,Verdolaga,Pigweed, Little Hogweed,
PusleyUnknowWhite Popinac, Lead Tree,
Wild Tamarind
Rose
Hairy Basil
Purslane, Pussley, Rose mose,Sun plant, Eleven-o'clock
Unknown
Water lily
Coral Vine, Pink Vine
white gourd, wax gourd
banana blossom

Plant
Scientific nameCosmos spp.
Ageratum conyzoides Linn.
Capsicum annuum
Ocimum basilicum L.f. var.
citratum Back.
Ocimum sanctum L.
Orthosiphon aristatus(Blume) Miq. Bolding
Benincasa hispida
Leucaena leucocephala(Lamk.) de Wit.
Cynoglossum lanceolatum
ForsskPortulaca oleracea L.

FamilyAsteraceae
Asteraceae
Solanaceae
Labiatae
Labiatae
Labiatae
Cucurbitaceae
Leguminosae
Boraginaceae
Portulacaceae

Leucaena leucocephala(Lamk.) de Wit.
Rosa hybrids
Ocimum basilicum L.f. var.
citratum Back.
Portulaca oleracea L.

Leguminosae

Nymphaea lotus L.
Antigonon leptopus. Hook. &Arn
Benincasa hispidaMusa sapientum L.

Nymphaeaceae
Polygonaceae

Rosaceae
Labiatae
Portulacaceae

Cucurbitaceae
Musaceae

Tetragonula pegdeni colony number 8 collected the highest variety of pollen plants (sevenspecies) while L. terminata colony number 11 collected six species of pollen plants (Fig. 1). Figure 2
shows the most favorite plants found in pollen load in yellow flame. (Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.)
Backer ex K.Heyne) and Corn (Zea mays. Linn), respectively. The observation in the field showed thatamaranth (Amaranthus lividus Linn.) was the favorite place of visiting of the stingless bees.
In southeastern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, stingless bees Tetragonisca angustula preferred to visit
Asteraceae and Anacardiamore than others (Braga J. A., et.al., 2012) while in manmade plantation inThailand, the two stingless bee species preferred Leguminosae (Peltophorum pterocarpum), Poaceae(Zea mays), and Amaranthaceae (Amaranthus lividus). Therefore, corn and amaranth could be pollen
plants providing pollen food sources for bees during pollen-scared season, as both of them were easy togrow in almost every kind of environment.

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1* Tp = Tetragonula pegdeni
Lt = Lepidotrigona terminata

Fig. 1 Number of plants found in pollen loads collected from worker stingless beesin front of the stingless bee colonies* 1 = Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.) K. Heyne
3 = POACEAE
5 = Vaccinium sprengelii (G.Don) Sleumer
7 = Unknow 2
9 = Antigonon leptopus Hook. & Arn.
11 = Pterocarpus indicus Willd.
13 = AMARYLLIDACEAE
15 = Unknow 3
17 = Mikania micrantha H.B.K.

2 = Zea mays Linn.
4 = NYMPHAEACEAE
6 = Unknow 1
8 = Luffa acutangula (Linn.) Roxb.
10 = SOLANACEAE
12 = Maoutia puya (Wall. ex Hook.) Wedd.
14 = Solanum torvum Sw.
16 = Unknow 4Fig. 2 Numbers of stingless bee colonies collected pollen from each pollen plant
CONCLUSION
Results of floral diversity using as pollen source of two stingless bees T. pegdeni and L. terminata
showed a small number floral plants visited by stingless bees during observation. There were eleven
species in June, five species in October, and four species in December. The most common pollen types
found in stingless bee pollen loads were Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.) and K. Heyne and Zea mays
but the most popular plant visited by stingless bees found in vegetable farm was amaranth.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by Rajamangala University of Technology research fund. The author would
like to thank Assoc. Prof. Danai Vannavanich for his comments.
REFERENCES
Braga, J.A., Sales, E.O., Neto, J.S., Conde, M.M., Barth, O.M. and Lorenzon, M.C. 2012. Floral sources toTetragonisca angustula (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and their pollen morphology in a Southeastern Brazilian
Atlantic Forest. Rev.Biol.Trop, 60 (4), 1491-1501.
Heard, T.A. 1999. The role of stingless bee in crop pollination. Ann. Rev. Entomal., 44, 183-206.
Kearns, C.A. and Inouqe, D.W. 1997. Pollinator, flowering plants, and conservation biology. BioScience, 47,297-307.
Kerr, W.E., Absy, M.L., Souza, A.C.M. 1986. Especies nectariferas poliniferas utilizadas pela abelha Melipona
compressipes fasciculate (Melipolinae - Apidae) no Maranhāo. Acta Amezonica, 16 (17), 145-156.
Sawatthum, A. 2004. Stingless bee keeping in Thailand. 8th International Conference on Tropical Bee and VI
Encontrosobre Abelhas 2004, September 6-10, 2004, Ribeirao Preto, SP. Brazil.

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