Management practices and honey characteristics of Melipona eburnea in the Peruvian Amazon

ABSTRACT: Meliponiculture and associated honey production are activities with a great potential for general use and commercialization in the Peruvian Amazon. Lack of management techniques and limited knowledge of honey quality are two factors which may hinder the implementation of meliponiculture. The present study was conducted in three communities in the Peruvian Amazon where the production and physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of honey from Melipona eburnea were evaluated at 90 days following transfer from natural to rational hives. Honey from M. eburnea was also compared with the 90-day-old honey from Melipona grandis, Melipona illota, and Melipona titania. In addition, 180-day-old honey from M. eburnea was sampled and compared with the younger 90-day-old honey. The production of honey varied from 900 to 1400 mL/colony/3 months for M. eburnea. When moisture and total sugars among the different species of Melipona were compared, no significant differences were observed. Neither were there significant differences between the M. eburnea honey at 90 and 180 days of maturation. Microbiological analyses for both treatments had values摘要：无刺蜂养殖（meliponiculture）及其相关蜂蜜生产，在秘鲁亚马逊地区具备广泛应用与商业化的巨大潜力。缺乏标准化管理技术以及对蜂蜜品质认知不足，是阻碍无刺蜂养殖推广的两大核心制约因素。本研究于秘鲁亚马逊地区的三个社区开展，针对从天然蜂巢转移至合理化蜂箱后90天的象牙色无刺蜂（Melipona eburnea）蜂蜜的产量、理化与微生物学特性展开评估。同时，将象牙色无刺蜂蜂蜜与养殖90天的大无刺蜂（Melipona grandis）、伊洛特无刺蜂（Melipona illota）以及泰坦无刺蜂（Melipona titania）的蜂蜜进行对照比较。此外，本研究还采集了养殖180天的象牙色无刺蜂蜂蜜，并与成熟周期更短的90天龄同品种蜂蜜开展对比分析。象牙色无刺蜂的蜂蜜产量为每群每3个月900至1400毫升。对不同无刺蜂属物种蜂蜜的含水量与总糖含量进行对比后，未发现显著差异；象牙色无刺蜂蜂蜜在90天与180天两个成熟阶段的指标同样无显著差异。两类处理组的微生物学分析结果均显示数值