FLORA VISITED BY Apis mellifera AT TWO PLANT COMMUNITIES OF BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

Abstract

In order to promote the apiculture development in the south tip of the Baja California peninsula, the potential of the native flora in terms of bee-keeping practices was evaluated. Data came from two locations pertaining each to different plant communities: a site of 200 ha under sarcocaulecent shrub and other site of 250 ha under tropical deciduous forest. On each location, activity of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) on blooming species was registered throughout two growing seasons. From a total of 118 plant species found in the sarcocaulecent shrub, 72 of them (61 %) were visited by the honey bees, while in the tropical deciduos forest, 157 (57 %) of 276 plant species recorded were visited. A chi square test indicated that the number of species visited by bees in each community depended upon the season of the year. In both communities, shrub species represented the dominant life form; they also were the species most visited by bees.