Volatile and Sensory Profile of Cerumen, Plant Resin Deposit, and Propolis of a Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille 1811) Nest from Merida, Venezuela

A colony of Tetragonisca angustula nested in a damaged 30 cm diameter porcelain Büchner funnel in a garden. This pharmaceutical hive attracted the attention of J.M.F. Camargo†, who was invited to a conference at the Faculty of Pharmacy, who then transferred the colony to a wooden hive. Six plant resin-beeswax-based materials were collected from the nest. Four types of cerumen: (1) Entrance tube. (2) Involucrum of the brood. (3) Pillars by the food reserve pots. (4) Empty honey pots. (5) Irregular resin deposited on the upper wall. (6) Layered propolis deposited on the indoor lid of the hive. These materials were described for visual, tactile, odor-aroma, and taste attributes. Sensory perception was assessed using an intensity scale of 0–3. The brittle involucrum had the strongest smell. Stickiness to teeth bite was higher in the indoor cover propolis of the hive, but the entrance tube stuck more to the fingertips. Colors varied from tortilla to brunette. The involucrum was not as malleable as the other resin-based materials analyzed. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from different chemical classes were identified and quantified by HS-SPME/GC-MS: 11 acids, 7 aldehydes, 16 alcohols, 16 esters, 8 ketones, 17 monoterpenes, 5 oxides, 11 sesquiterpenes, and 4 compounds from other classes; 52/95 of these VOCs were detected in the six beeswax-plant resin-based materials of T. angustula nest, as core VOCs.