Stingless bee pollen product from Mount Merapi Slope, Turi Yogyakarta Indonesia

Abstract

Stingless beekeeping practice (meliponiculture) in Indonesia is known to have an important role in flowering plant pollination outcomes as the stingless bee species is widely distributed across most regions of the country. As a social insect, lebah klaceng (the local name of stingless bee) consists of many species which produces honey, bee pollen, and propolis. It has been found that higher diversity of the collected pollens indicates a higher success of pollination outcomes for different kinds of flowering plants. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the diversity of collected stingless bee pollens in the meliponiculture practice at the Mount Merapi Slope, Turi, Yogyakarta, Indonesia by observing the pollen characteristics. Acetolysis method was used in the preparation of the collected pollens for identification. The pollens were then observed under a light microscope. The result showed that the stingless bee pollens collected from Mount Merapi Slope were successfully obtained from various flowering plants belonging to 31 families dominated by Arecaceae (46.60%), followed by Asteraceae (6.90%), and Malvaceae (5.70%). It can be concluded that the stingless bee, Tetragonula laeviceps, is a good pollinator insect which supports the successful pollination of up to 31 families of flowering plants found at the Mount Merapi Slope, Turi, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.