Plants Used by Bees as Pollen Sources in the Brazilian “Cerrado”

Bee flora is the set of plants that supply food to bees in a given region. The recognition of the plants used by bees for the collection of pollen in order to enable adequate handling by the beekeeper and the improvement of the bee pasture are considered of great importance for a good beekeeping. Some bee pollen samples were obtained monthly during one year from pollen collectors installed in five beehives in two different areas (“cerradão” and “cerrado” sensu stricto) in Pirassununga, SP, Brazil. It was noted that species of the Asteraceae family were intensely visited by the Apis mellifera bees, indicating the importance of them for an eventual bee flora recomposition. Alternativelly bees visited nearby areas, using mainly Eucalyptus sp. and Citrus sp. for the collection of pollen