global meliponiculture: challenges and opportunities -...

Apidologie 37 (2006) 275–292 275c© INRA/DIB-AGIB/ EDP Sciences, 2006DOI: 10.1051/apido:2006027

Review article

Global meliponiculture: challenges and opportunities

Marilda C-La, Vera Lucia I-Fb,David Ward Rc, Anne Dd, Tim He, Ingrid Af , Giorgio C.

Vg, Connal Eh, Paulo N-Na

a Ecology Dept., Biosciences Institute, S. Paulo University, Brazilb Biology Dept., F.F.C.L. Ribeirão Preto, S. Paulo University, Av. Bandeirantes 3900, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto,

Brazilc Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Republic of Panama

d Australian Native Bee Research Centre, PO Box 74, North Richmond New South Wales 2754, Australiae CSIRO Entomology, 120 Meiers Rd, Indooroopilly Queensland 4068, Australia

f CINAT Centro de Investigaciones Apícolas Tropicales, Universidad Nacional, 475-3000 Heredia, Costa Ricag EMBRAPA Amazônia Oriental, PO Box 48, Belém-PA, CEP 66.017-970, Brazil

h ARC Plant Protection Research Institute, Private BagX134, Queenswood, 0121, South Africa

Received 19 January 2006 – Accepted 15 February 2006

Abstract – Stingless bees are social bees that live in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. All speciesproduce honey, which has been appreciated by humans since ancient times. Here, the general panoramaof meliponiculture is presented. Deforestation and poor management are the main problems faced by thisincipient industry. For a profitable meliponiculture, much more biological information is needed, as well asfield studies in natural conditions. In the near future, we suggest that the successful use of these pollinatorswill promote the development of new breeding techniques and commercialization possibilities, which mustbe designed to be sustainable.

meliponiculture / stingless bees / breeding / honey / wax / pollinators / Apidae /Meliponini

1. INTRODUCTION

Stingless bees together with honeybees areeusocial insects. Stingless bees have beenknown for their honey and pollen production,but nowadays their role as the providers ofecosystem services is also recognized. Today,over 600 species in 56 named genera live intropical and subtropical areas of the world; 400known species exist in the Neotropical region,and it is estimated that there are more than100 to be described (Camargo, pers. comm.).The stingless bees reach 32◦S to 38◦S in SouthAmerica and Australia, respectively, 28◦S in

Corresponding author: M. Cortopassi-Laurino,[email protected] address: Biological Science Centre, SantaCatarina Federal University, 88040-900, Florinopo-lis SC, Brazil.

Africa, and a little beyond the tropic of Cancerin the Northern hemisphere.

Stingless bee beekeeping is known asmeliponiculture. This activity, generally un-dertaken by traditional communities, has localcharacteristics according to regional and tradi-tional knowledge. Honey and a waxy material(the cerumen of stingless bee nests is not purewax, but a wax/plant resin mixture) were thetraditional products. Resin is also occasion-ally an important income source for the stin-gless bee beekeeper, as well as the renting ofcolonies for pollination service.

In this paper, the regional status of melipon-iculture worldwide is considered. The use ofstingless bees as crop pollinators has opened anew economic possibility for meliponiculture.Large-scale rearing of stingless bees is a cur-rent challenge as it must be aligned with sus-tainable development.

Article published by EDP Sciences and available at http://www.edpsciences.org/apido or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido:2006027

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276 M. Cortopassi-Laurino et al.

2. ORIGINS OF MELIPONICULTURE

Although diverse indigenous peoples livedin Mexico when the Spanish conquerors ar-rived in sixteenth century, the ancient Mayapeople held stingless bees in high regard andconsidered them an integral part of social andreligious life. At that time, stingless bees pro-vided a vital small-scale economy, due to theirhoney (used as medicine, as sweetener andfor mead), their waxes, and resins. The cul-tural importance of a single central species,called Xunan-Kab (Melipona beecheii), wasrecorded in documents written with ideogramsby the Maya, recorded in their codices. Onlythree of these codices have survived and one,the Tro Codex, contains most data on bees andtheir meaning to society.

The honey produced by Xunan-Kab wasconsidered sacred by the Maya and was alsotraded. Lopes de Gomara (1552) wrote thatstingless bee honey occurred in different col-ors, flavors, and fluidity, and indicated that itwas an important medicinal product. Honeywas also used to pay taxes to the Aztecs, andInca (Cobo, 1653; Roubik, 2000). In Mex-ico, there was a god of honey, while honeyand cerumen of M. beecheii were used insacred ceremonies. Even today, in catholicchurches in Puebla, Mexico, it is possible tosee wax objects offered to God. Besides themodern cultural changes, the stingless bees,especially the Xunan-Kab, are among the fewnative organisms that possess a widely ac-knowledged status as a cultural, ecologicaland economic icon (De Jong, 2001; Villanuevaet al., 2005b). However, beekeeping with stin-gless bees has sharply declined in the last halfcentury. Villanueva et al. (2005a) made thefirst census of meliponiculture in Mayan com-munities in Yucatan, and verified that this ac-tivity is almost extinct (90% of colonies havebeen lost in the last 25 years).

In Brazil, stingless bees play an importantrole in the ethnobiology of the Kayapó (Poseyand Camargo, 1985; Camargo and Posey,1990). They named and classified 34 speciesof stingless bees, of which 9 were consid-ered managed or semi-domesticated. Resinand cerumen were used in their artifacts andas medicine. The natural world model of the

Kayapó universe was taken from social in-sects, including stingless bees, ants and wasps.In their religious ceremonies, meliponine waxor cerumen was used. Camargo and Posey(1990) mention that some Kayapó individu-als knew many details of bee behavior, dis-tribution, nest types and their respective eco-logical zones. The bee specialists in Gorotirewere all shamans: they looked for bee nestsduring the night (they were not afraid of spir-its), and could find them by the noise fromnest ventilation, which they recognized foreach bee species (see also Kajobe and Roubik,2006). They also could follow the odor thatbees used to mark nesting sites. The personthat found the nest became its owner andcould exploit it, using several techniques ac-cording to the species. Indigenous people usesmoke for managing aggressive bees, suchas Oxytrigona, and also use a common toxicliana (Tanaecium nocturnum, Bignoniaceae)to manage the bees, which causes bees to sleepafter 1 or 2 minutes. All knowledge on beeswas passed orally through generations. Thetraditional way of finding nests by the noisemade by worker bees during nest ventilationis still a method used by many native peoplefrom different communities in Eastern Ama-zon. These collectors usually mark the treeswith a nest inside during the night. Later, dur-ing the day, the nests are collected.

The Kayapó exploit stingless bee nests(Melipona seminigra pernigra, M. melanoven-ter, M. rufiventris flavolineata, Scaptotrigonanigrohirta, S. polysticta, among others) dur-ing several consecutive years. When they opennatural nests to collect food, some brood,pollen and honey is left for the spirit “Bep-kororoti” and this allows recovery of thecolony. Some species like Tetragonisca an-gustula, Trigona cilipes and T. dallatorre-ana are brought into houses in baskets madewith banana leaves, and thus are under semi-domestication. The Kayapó seem to be awareof the role of stingless bees as crop pollinators(Slaa et al., 2006); they tend to plant bee plantsnear their crops to attract the bees.

In Africa, Byarugaba (2004) discussed theAbayandas pygmy indigenous knowledge onstingless bees in the Bwindi forest reserve,Uganda. He explained that Bwindi is a forest

Global meliponiculture: challenges and opportunities 277

Figure 1. Vertical hive with special ventilation system for stingless bees of tropical areas (from GiorgioC. Venturieri in www.cpatu.embrapa.br/meliponicultura.htm).

island, where different types of forests merge,and the diversity of species in many groups ishigher than in other parts, yet only six speciesof stingless bees are found there. Batwa pyg-mies, Abayanda, Bakiga and Bafumbira peo-ple use the honey of Meliponula ferrugineaand other bees for medicine, e.g. to alleviateconstipation.

3. FROM TREE HOLLOWSTO STANDARD HIVES

The first step in meliponiculture was themaintenance of nests around a shelter or homein the original section of a tree trunk or branch.

Stingless bees nest mainly in tree hollows. Forsuch species, it is easier to move and maintaina nest in artificial wooden hives. Subterraneannests, compared to aerial nests, are difficult tomaintain in hives. Considering the variety ofbee species, a large array of boxes, differing instyle and size, have been built and tested. InBrazil, horizontal hives are much more com-mon than vertical ones. Some beekeepers be-lieve that the vertical boxes supply the beeswith the same conditions they have in the logs.Vertical hives with a special ventilation systemhave been built in hot, tropical areas (Fig. 1).Rational hives made of wood, with a centralplace for brood and surrounding area for honeyor pollen pots, as suggested by Nogueira-Neto


Figure 2. Clay Hives of Scaptotrigona mexicanaused by native people in Puebla, Mexico (photo byCortopassi-Laurino).

(1997), have been modified by beekeepers.Modifications have also been made in hive vol-ume, adapting them for the size of each rearingspecies. Ceramic clay hives (Fig. 2) are stillused by indigenous people in Mexico as wellas by some traditional populations in Brazil(Castro, 2005). Mud is often used to close thelogs and rudimentary hives in the field, aftermanagement, to prevent enemies from enter-ing the nest (primarily phorid flies and ants).

In Northeast Brazil, where meliponicultureis relatively developed, beekeepers try to usethe same wood for constructing hives as usedby the nesting wild colonies, for instanceCommiphora leptophloeos (Burseraceae) forMelipona subnitida (Martins et al., 2004).

4. ESTABLISHING A MELIPONARY

Stingless bees live in colonies that repro-duce by a process called swarming, but this isnot the same process employed by honey bees(Nogueira-Neto, 1997). Colonies are long-lived; there are reports of a nest remaining ac-tive more than 50 years in a protected log hive,but is not known how many swarms they is-sue during their lifetime, nor how long queenslive, but the expected time required for colonyreproduction greatly exceeds queen longevity.One possible way to obtain nests for estab-lishing new meliponaries is to capture natu-ral swarms by offering suitable artificial nests.Inoue et al. (1993) found that with the intro-duction of artificial nest sites in orchards the

Figure 3. Tray of honey pots from Melipona com-pressipes fasciculata ready to be collect (photo byG.C. Venturieri).

colony density of Trigona minangkabau in-creased by 2–5 times. In southern Brazil somebeekeepers use empty bottles, with an entrancemade with cerumen, to attract stingless beeswarms; such artificial nest sites are attractiveto Tetragonisca angustula. Empty hollow logscan be used as a hive, as Ratnieks and Hart(2001) described for a Maya Indian stinglessbee beekeeping:

“To divide a colony, Benancio takes somecombs of emerging brood and honey fromone hive and places it in an empty loghive which has been smeared inside withhoney. The newly emerged bees then goto work and one of the newly-emergedqueens takes over. During the honey har-vest he noted colonies with brood suitablefor making the divisions. Colonies can alsobe obtained from the wild by cutting downthe tree in which they are living, but it israrely done”

Other beekeepers prefer to use special hivesfor keeping their bees. According to thespecies harvested and region, hives have dif-ferent models and sizes. Silva et al. (2004)verified that colonies established in standardhives produce more honey than in “caboclo”or rustic hives, and thus teach small farm-ers in the Amazon how to construct standardhives for their local species. The hives fa-cilitate nest multiplication, honey collection,colony thermoregulation, and other necessitiesfor meliponiculture (Fig. 3).


5. LOGGING AND STINGLESS BEES

Stingless bee nests in nature are in dangerof depletion by logging practices. In Malaysia(Eltz et al., 2003) and in the Brazilian Amazon(Venturieri, unpubl. data) it has been shownthat logging reduces stingless bees nests and,as a consequence, native pollinators, whichhas implications for forest recovery or restora-tion. Villanueva et al. (2005a) remarked thatlogging also reduces forest habitat that con-tains suitable, unoccupied nesting sites. Eltzet al. (2003) considered that the loss of pollina-tors occurs even if the rules for certified woodmanagement are taken into account. In Brazila Resolution approved by the Environmen-tal Ministry National Council (CONAMA)in July 2004, which considers the protectionand use of wild bees and establishment ofmeliponaries. The commercialization of nativebees will be allowed only if produced frompropagation of hived colonies, or those colo-nized naturally in artificial nests. This shouldhelp to eliminate the destruction of trees forextraction of living bee colonies. Nevertheless,the Brazilian government has not yet paid at-tention to the need for general pollinator con-servation among the rules now being estab-lished for forest management.

Samejima et al. (2004) studied the effects ofhuman disturbance (logging and shifting cul-tivation) on a stingless bee community in atropical rainforest, in Sarawak, Malaysia. Nestdensity was positively related to the densityof large trees. The bait results indicated thatsome species were abundant in the primaryforests, whereas others were found mainly indisturbed forests. These authors emphasize therole of nest site availability as a limiting factorfor nest density. In Borneo, the distribution ofstingless bee nests is often clumped (Roubik,1996, 2006; Nagamitsu and Inoue, 1997; Eltzet al., 2002).

6. HONEY PRODUCTION

The extraction of honey is often the sole in-come for keepers of stingless bees, followedby cerumen (Fig. 4) and resin, but a few yearsago, commercial use of stingless bees in polli-nation began. In all Latin American countries,

Figure 4. Balls of cerumen sold in street fair inthe Northeast of Brazil (photo by M. Cortopassi-Laurino).

as elsewhere, stingless bee honey is used muchmore as medicine than as a sweetener.

Some farmers comment that they obtain ex-ceptional honey production from old estab-lished colonies. The average yearly productionis nearly one or two liters per colony, in stan-dard hives (Tab. II). For M. subnitida, an ex-ceptional production of nearly 6.0 liters/yearoccurred in a few colonies out of 80 duringthe rainy season in Caatinga regions of Brazil(Cortopassi-Laurino and Macêdo, 1998).

The tradition of selling stingless bee honeyin Brazilian markets has become cost effec-tive only recently. Small jars indicating sting-less bee species of origin can be found in localmarkets in production areas. This honey car-ries a higher price than the honey of Apis. Inspecialty shops in big cities the price is aroundUS $40 per liter.

Today, although some beekeepers havemore than 500 colonies, they have problemspreserving the honey because it is watery andferments very quickly. In a survey of dif-ferent methods used to collect and conservestingless bee honey, Silva (2005) concludedthat the pasteurization method proposed byNogueira-Neto (1997) could maintain mostof the honey’s original characteristics for sixmonths. This method is thus an effective andsimple way to conserve stingless bee honeyfor commercialization. The way honey is ex-tracted and the use of sanitary measure nec-essary play an important role in its finaluse and price if selected for table or foods


Table I. Region and country where stingless bees are being reared.

Species of stingless beesRegion where bee is reared

Countryand or biome

M. compressipes manaoensisAmazon (Amazonas) Brazil1M. seminigra merrillae

M. rufiventris paraensis

Frieseomellita sp.M. compressipes fasciculata

Amazon (Pará, Maranhão) Brazil1

M. compressipes manaoensisM.rufiventris flavolineataM. melanoventerM. seminigra pernigraM. seminigra (Tapajós sub sp.)Scaptotrigona nigrohirtaTetragona clavipesTetragonisca angustulaM. crinita

Amazon (Acre) Brazil1M. eburnea fuscopilosaM. flavolineataM. grandisTetragonisca weyrauchi

M. compressipes fasciculataAmazon (Amapá) Brazil1

M. fulvaM. asilvai

Caatinga* (northeast) Brazil1Scaptotrigona sp.M. subnitidaM. rufiventris

Atlantic Rain Forest (northeast and southeast) Brazil1M. scutellarisM. quadrifasciataTetragonisca angustula

Frieseomelitta varia

Savanna (northeast) Brazil1M. rufiventrisScaptotrigona spp.M. mandacaia

M. beecheiiYucatan Mexico2Frieseomelitta nigra

Scaptotrigona pectoralis

Scaptotrigona mexicana Puebla Mexico2

Melipona fasciata

Guanacaste/Puntarenas Costa Rica1

Tetragonisca angustulaMelipona beecheiiScaptotrigona pectoralisScaptotrigona luteipennis

Melipona eburnea LoretoPeru3Tetragonisca angustula San Martin

Tetragonisca weyrauchi Madre de Dios

Scaptotrigona aff. polystictaIbiato/Nguiray Bolivia4

Scaptotrigona postica

Scaptotrigona depilis Montevideo Paraguay5

Tetragonisca angustulaTachira Venezuela6

Melipona favosa

Trigona carbonariaQueensland and New South Wales Australia1Trigona hockingsi

Austroplebeia spp.

Data from 1: current authors; 2: Cortopassi-Laurino (2002); 3: Rassmussem and Castilho (2003); 4: Pinto pers. comm.; 5: Shevelev (2003);6: Moreno et al. (2005).

Caatinga* a stunt sparse semi-arid region found in Northeast of Brazil.


Table II. Production of honey/colony/year (liters) in Brazil.

Bee Average Honey (max) AuthorM. asilvai 1,0 (2,5) Carvalho et al. (2003)M. fasciculata 2,4 (4,4) n = 19 Venturieri et al. (2003)M. mandacaia 2,0 (4,0) Carvalho et al. (2003)M. quadrifasciata 2,0 (5,0) n = 50 Valdemar Monteiro (pers. comm.)M. rufiventris 3,0 (5,0) n = 28 Lima Verde (pers. comm.)M. subnitida 2,5 (5,6) n = 80 Ezequiel Macedo (pers. comm.)M. scutellaris 3,0 (10,0) n ≥ 100 Francisco Chagas (pers. comm.)Scaptotrigona postica 1,5 (3,0) Carvalho et al. (2003)Scaptotrigona nigrohirta 3,8 (12,0) Venturieri & Imperatriz-Fonseca (2000)T. angustula 1,0 (2,7) n = 100 Jean Julien (pers.comm.)

industries. One campaign headed by PatriciaVit, from Venezuela, focuses upon honey qual-ity and authenticity, strategic impacts in honeycommercialization, and standard analysis ofhoney from stingless bees. Although mosthoney comes from Melipona and Tetrago-nisca angustula, there are many species ofstingless bees that produce honey but re-main understudied (Roubik, 1983; Cortopassi-Laurino and Gelli, 1991; Vit et al., 1994, 2004;Grajales et al., 2001; Bazlem, 2002; DeMeraand Angert, 2004; Cortopassi-Laurino, 2005).Physico-chemical parameters, botanical ori-gin, and microbiological conditions should beknown at least for the potential species, todevelop the needed legislation to allow thecommerce and control of stingless bee honey.Nogueira-Neto proposes the name “irahoney”for this product (ira means bee in the nativeTupi-Guarani language), to distinguish it fromthe honey produced by Apis mellifera, whosecontrol and commercial rules do not apply tostingless bees.

It has been suggested by Vit et al. (2004)that honeys from all Melipona species couldbe included under only one legislation. To ac-cept this idea, we still have to study and totest the honey of stingless bees that are nowmost widely bred in Brazil, which compriseat least 10 species (Tab. I). Also importantis the consideration that the honey should beharvested under optimal conditions, which in-clude ripened honey from closed storage potsand a special extraction machine, due to thehigh level of humidity and yeasts that are fre-quently observed in the honeys from stinglessbees.

Honey production also depends on the qual-ity of environment, competition with otherbee species for floral resources, and bee man-agement. Villanueva et al. (2005a) discussedthis point in relation to honey production byMelipona beecheii. The destruction of natu-ral areas and the increased number of Apismellifera colonies had an impact on colonysurvival and honey production. These authorssuggested that colonies were overexploited forhoney collection and perished without ade-quate management. In early times honey washarvested 5 times a year, and the productionwas between 10 to 20 liters a year (Crane andGraham, 1985; Crane, 1992).

7. REGIONAL ACCOUNTSOF MELIPONICULTURE

7.1. Meliponiculture in Mexico

The remarkable feature of stingless bee bee-keeping in Mexico is that, historically, it wasthe only sustainable type of beekeeping any-where in the world. Nevertheless, the situa-tion has changed in recent years, mainly con-cerning beekeeping with Melipona beecheii(Villanueva et al., 2005a).

Before providing some details which helpexplain the relationship between stingless beebeekeeping and management in Mexico, abrief survey of the bees is useful. The gen-era Melipona (which includes the largest stin-gless bees), Scaptotrigona and Cephalotrig-ona occur throughout tropical America (seeAyala, 1999). The first two are apparently the


most widely cultivated for their honey. In Mex-ico, modern meliponiculture is almost entirelylimited to Melipona beecheii and occasion-ally to M. solani in the lowlands, and includesM. fasciata and M. colimana in highland areas.Colonies of Scaptotrigona mexicana are main-tained in clay jars in part of Mexico, as areS. hellwegeri and S. pectoralis. Cephalotrig-ona is next to Melipona in size and has threespecies in Mexico. Log hives of C. zexme-niae (sometimes called C. capitata in Cen-tral America) are kept by Mayan people in theYucatan peninsula.

An increasing number of studies establishbaseline numerical density and abundance ofbee colonies in natural habitats (review byKajobe and Roubik, 2006). Are the most abun-dant bee colonies those most likely to be uti-lized by man? Generally, bee nest surveys ofstingless bees or Apis are made in secondaryor old primary forests, and occasionally whenthere are obviously many bee colonies in moredisturbed areas. First of all, the number of stin-gless bee colonies in older forests, anywhere inthe world, is not particularly high. Usually oneto four colonies exists per hectare. The low-est density has been found in old central Ama-zonian forest where within 100 ha only threecolonies occurred. However, the numbers ofspecies found nesting was nowhere near thenumber of local species (Oliveira, 2001), thusone might conclude that many colonies weretoo small or too far from the ground-level sur-vey to be detected. Secondly, surveys in dis-turbed habitats (including cleared areas withbuildings), or in very young forests, haveregistered the highest densities of colonies(Batista et al., 2003). Unfortunately, becausethere is not a uniform density of suitable nest-ing sites (like the tree hollows in a continuousforest) it is impossible to translate the densitiesof colonies per building or in semi-natural nestcavities (walls, holes, felled trees) to the den-sity of nesting colonies on a habitat-wide ba-sis. Vertical compression of all potential nest-ing sites (normally reaching above 30 to 40 min the forest canopy) to buildings or vegeta-tion that reaches only one-fourth this height,also makes the equivalence of nest surveys ona ‘per area’ basis doubtful. Nonetheless, themean of the few dozen surveys provides an es-

timate of approximately 2 colonies per hectare(Kajobe and Roubik, 2006). This data can beused to ask the next question: What kinds ofcolonies are found?

The Neotropical data reveal a strong ten-dency for most forests to contain manycolonies of Scaptotrigona but few ofMelipona. Unpublished nest survey data fromthe Yucatan peninsula (Gonzalez-Acereto,pers. comm.) concur with similar data fromPanama, Costa Rica, and Bolivia. Scaptotrig-ona have the most numerous colonies of anystingless bee species with a relatively largebody and colony size. Furthermore, coloniesof Melipona have far fewer workers, perhaps70–80% less, than Scaptotrigona. However,regarding honey stores in the nest, both generacan have several liters at any one time. Itcan be ascertained that Scaptotrigona andMelipona, Cephalotrigona, and Tetragona arethe only Neotropical stingless bees that storeso much honey. Thus, if Mexican habitatshave been consistent in the forest bee colonieswhich they contain, either large bees, largehoney stores, or high abundance – and prob-ably a combination of these variables – havehad marked influence on the stingless beespecies selected for meliponiculture.

An incentive to humans for propagation ofMelipona beecheii was probably a result of itslow nesting density and prized honey stores.In traditional Mayan stingless bee beekeeping,up to five honey harvests were taken annuallyfrom log hives of M. beecheii in forested ar-eas (Villanueva et al., 2005a). In that long-termstudy in the heartland of traditional Mayanmeliponiculture, the original 27 colonies in asingle meliponary were derived from a sin-gle parent or ‘mother’ colony. All those man-aged colonies have disappeared during the last20 years. A regional decline of over 90%in managed colonies in the past half centurywas also documented. An explanation was thatcolonies are no longer propagated, while otherfactors, such as waning traditions and hurri-cane damage, exacerbate the depressing situ-ation by increasing colony mortality.

The first techniques used for colony prop-agation in Mexico are unknown, but prob-ably involved simple division of the broodand stored food into log hives. Log hives are


hollow trees of an abundant hardwood; thosecurrently in use in Yucatan are ‘silicote’ thesame tree of the famed chicle trade Manilkara(Sapotaceae). The ends of the hollowed logare sealed with a firm, thick plate of the lo-cal limestone, and the cracks sealed with mud.The stone plugs are a unique asset, which re-quire only a short time to produce from lime-stone rocks scattered on the surface of theentire Yucatan peninsula. Another unique as-set of meliponiculture with Melipona is thatthe colonies continuously produce queens. Anewly divided colony can thus usually possessa laying queen soon after it has been made bythe beekeeper. Whether there had been a tra-dition of colony propagation using Scaptotrig-ona or Cephalotrigona is unknown. The cur-rent practice of dividing Scaptotrigona, oftenusing brood from three donor nests, is possiblya recent advance in meliponiculture (Stierlinand Szabo, 2004; and Szabo and Stierlin, inpress). The basic trial-and-error developmentof husbandry techniques had the best chancesfor success using the native Melipona thatwere readily hived and whose colonies weredivided successfully using a minimum of tech-nology or scientific knowledge. Although stin-gless bee beekeeping has progressed since theancient Maya worked out some basic princi-ples, many of the current techniques remainessentially unchanged.

7.2. Meliponiculture in Costa Rica

Stingless beekeeping in Central Americaoriginated among the Maya of the YucatanPeninsula and spread to other Central Amer-ican Indian cultures (Kent, 1984). Before thediscovery and the conquest of American con-tinent by Europeans (indigenous peoples im-migrated across the Bering Strait at least15 000 years ago), rearing stingless bees wasan important part of the commercial and ali-mentary customs of many indigenous culturesof America. The honey of these bees was usedas food and medicine, and the preparation ofother products based on cerumen was also im-portant (Kent, 1984; Sommeijer, 1996). Asin other Mesoamerican areas, stingless bee-keeping in Costa Rica did not play an impor-tant role in the religion of indigenous cultures

(Kent, 1984). However, it was reported thatan abundance of honey and wax was pro-duced around the beginning of the 20th cen-tury (Kent, 1984).

The practice of the stingless bee beekeepingin Pacific Costa Rica (Nicoya) was consideredpopular (Kent, 1984). Nowadays, the practiceof the meliponiculture in that region is lessprevalent. Other areas belonging to Puntarenasand Guanacaste provinces (Santa Cruz, Hojan-cha, Filadelfia, and Miramar) are known fortraditional meliponiculture. In other regions ofCosta Rica meliponiculture is less common,compared with Guanacaste and Puntarenas.For instance, in the Atlantic region of Limónand Alajuela, we have observed few stinglessbeekeeper but many of them have received mo-tivation during our recent workshops.

The stingless beekeepers usually keep theircolonies in log hives, generally hanging un-der the roof of their houses. Special places forkeeping the colonies are built away from thehouse, and in exceptional cases there are morethan 40 colonies. The farmers that do not haveland or a higher educational degree constitutethe main social group involved in meliponicul-ture.

Stingless bee beekeeping in Costa Ricahas been practiced at a low technical level,almost without equipment, and the type ofhive used is mainly a hollow log (Arceet al., 1994). The main species reared are“jicote gato” (M. beecheii), “jicote bar-cino” (M. fasciata) (Melipona costaricensis),“mariquita o mariola” (Tetragonisca angus-tula), “soncuano” (Scaptotrigona pectoralispectoralis) and “tacanique” (Scaptotrigonaluteipennis) (Ramírez and Ortiz, 1995). Thebreeding of Frieseomelitta nigra, T. fulviven-tris, Lestrimelitta, and Plebeia tica is lesscommon. Lestrimellita, a robber bee that doesnot visit flowers, is not suitable for stinglessbee beekeeping (Santana et al., 2004).

Arce et al. (1994) reported from a sur-vey of 40 stingless bee beekeepers (Gua-nacaste Province) a total of 9 different do-mesticated species: M. beecheii, M. fas-ciata (now known as M. costaricensis)M. fuliginosa, Tetragonisca angustula, Scap-totrigona pectoralis, Cephalotrigona capi-tata, Nannotrigona perilampoides, Trigonisca,


Frieseomelitta, Oxytrigona mellicolor, andTetragona. Some farmers obtained productionof up to 6 liters and, in the case of M. beecheii,the production average was 2.63 liters per hive.

According to van Veen et al. (1990),meliponiculture in Costa Rica is practiced ba-sically in two ways: (1) maintaining the nestsin tree trunks, from which the honey, by a lat-eral opening, is extracted, generally used forM. beecheii; and (2) maintaining the coloniesin small boxes, pieces of bamboo or hollowgourds, ordinarily with T. angustula. Althoughmeliponiculture occurs throughout Costa Ricaand even in urban areas (Sommeijer, 1996), thelocal people do not understand the reproduc-tive biology of the bees. This is reflected in thefear the people have in dividing nests. Whencarried out in a haphazard way, nest divisionresults in parasite attack (phorid flies) and lossof the colony.

In relation with the design and dimensionsof hive boxes, van Veen et al. (1993) recom-mended for M. beecheii a hive with a volumeof 10 liters with internal dimensions of 15 cmheight, 15 cm width and 45 cm length. ForT. angustula the recommended box measures15 cm × 15 cm × 20 cm long, which gives avolume of 4.5 liters. In its application we haveobserved that the stingless beekeepers mod-ify the dimensions of hives according to thespecies and the size of the colony.

Thanks to different extension projectsand workshops carried out by the TropicalBeekeeping Research Center (CINAT) Uni-versidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica theinterest in this honey and in stingless bees hasincreased over the past few years. Today com-merce of this honey commands high prices;one liter sells for US $20–50 and small con-tainers of 10 mL cost US $2.0 due to an in-creasing interest in its medicinal use (mainlyused against cataracts).

Research carried out by CINAT confirmedthe importance of Nannotrigona perilam-poides and Tetragonisca angustula as pollina-tors of the ornamental plant Salvia farinacea(Slaa et al., 2000). This stingless bee can beconsidered an alternative to honey bees forcommercial crop pollination. Also, there is astudy on the influence of altitude on the distri-bution of stingless bees by Ortiz-Mora and van

Veen (1995), in Guanacaste Province CostaRica, where fewer species were collected athigher altitudes. It is well known that sting-less bee species richness declines dramaticallyabove 1000 m in Central America. They aremore abundant at 200–500 m and rare at 700–1000 m. van Veen et al. (2004) studied in CostaRica the production of queens and drones forM. beecheii in relation to food storage, broodand adult populations. They found that thecolonies grow at the end of the rainy season,which is a period characterized by poor forag-ing conditions. On the other hand they founda significant correlation between the amountof pollen stored and the production of queensand drones. Finally, more action should betaken to continue the work initiated by Wille(1961) on the biology, biodiversity conserva-tion and management of the stingless bees inCosta Rica.

A cooperative programme for research, ex-tension and training related to tropical bees(PRAM) involving Utrecht University and theUniversidad Nacional de Costa Rica began in1990 (www.una.ac.cr/cnat/conven2.htm) andmore recently El Salvador joined the group.

7.3. Meliponiculture in Brazil

Meliponiculture in Brazil was studied andsummarized by Nogueira-Neto (1953, 1970,1997, 2002) and Kerr et al. (1996), who pro-moted development of this activity. Besidesadvancing the activity with guidebooks, whichprovide a unique literature in Portuguese, theseinvestigators’ research resulted in a group ofscientists that also work with meliponicultureand Brazilian stingless bees.

Theories of genetic variability (Kerr andVencovski, 1982; Kerr, 1985) predicted that tosuccessfully breed stingless bees it was nec-essary to have at least 44 colonies, to avoiddiploid males created by excessive inbreed-ing in the population. From 1990 to 2001,Nogueira-Neto (2002) performed 287 colonydivisions, starting with 28 foundress colonies.Seven species of stingless bees (and one sub-species) were inbred in five localities insidetheir extensive native habitats, and in two lo-calities far from these habitats. On the whole,the number of colonies increased and the loss


of colonies over the years was small. Diploidmales were not found in nests after several di-visions. This investigator also evaluated howlong a queen lived in some species, by mark-ing physogastric queens with a dot of perma-nent paint. Most colonies changed queens ev-ery year. The experiments continue, and it isclear that we need more research on the genet-ics of stingless bee populations. Furthermore,the survival of small populations is a conser-vation concern. Nogueira-Neto is testing man-agement techniques that are locally adapted tostingless bees. Phorid flies are controlled withthe use of vinegar traps, first constructed byImperatriz-Fonseca. These are often very ef-fective in control. Nowadays they can be usedinside the nest, as well as outside.

In early times, beekeepers collectedstingless bee nests in nature, as did theirrelatives and parents. More recently they arelearning how to divide the colonies, as wellas become more conscious of environmentalconcerns. In Brazil, with few exceptions, bee-keepers maintain a low technical level, almostwithout equipment. The harvest of honey isoften made by shaking the hives upside-down,thereby destroying young larvae that fall fromtheir provisions, and also attracting phoridflies that damage and parasitize the nest.

Honey, new colonies and nuclei (small in-cipient colonies) are the main products ofBrazilian meliponiculture. Stingless bee bee-keeping as a hobby and for educational pur-poses is another strong reason to keep thesebees in urban or rural areas.

Surveys carried out in 2001 by Rosso et al.(2001). in Brazil showed that meliponicultureis growing rapidly, and for most people it isa secondary economic activity. Most of thesebeekeepers rear stingless bees from their nat-ural regions, but for only one person surveyedthe sale of new colonies or nuclei, and honey,was the only family income. One beekeeper (abreeder of Melipona scutellaris) increased thenumber of his colonies from 200 (in 2001) to750 (in 2006). Another breeder from CentralAmazon, keeping Scaptotrigona sp. and otherfive species of Meliponini, increased the num-ber of colonies from 45 in 2000 to 350 in 2005after adoption of vertical rational hives (simi-lar to the one shown in Fig. 1). This beekeeper

also adjusted the measurements of the box foreach bee species.

The way a stingless bee beekeeper dividesand propagates colonies varies according tospecies and husbandry knowledge (Nogueira-Neto, 1997). A curiosity to mention here is thebeekeeper that successfully divides the nestsof M. scutellaris using a large knife, cuttingthe nests vertically in two parts. Three mainways of splitting the nests are known, usingone, two or more colonies in order to forma new one, although the adult workers comefrom only one nest (Cortopassi-Laurino andMacêdo, 1998).

Most Brazilian stingless bee beekeepers aremembers of associations and cooperatives, andsome of them have their own homepages. Theoldest is CAPEL, in Pernambuco state. Blogsor discussion websites are also available forstingless bee beekeepers, generally used forbeginners, which facilitates the spread of gen-eral beekeeping techniques.

In Brazil, a dozen beekeepers started rear-ing stingless bees as part of social and govern-mental projects. The largest is Iraquara Projectin Amazonas state, which produced 3 tons ofhoney in 2004 (Villas-Bôas and Malaspina,2005). In the last three years, the BrazilianAgricultural Research Company (EMBRAPA)has trained more than 450 rural workers, stu-dents, and technicians in meliponiculture inNortheastern Amazon. After implementationof these courses, the number of bee boxes in-creased from 281 in 2003 to over 900 in 2005by the same group of beekeepers. Many ofthese beekeepers also commercialized part oftheir colony divisions, and thus helped spreadthe meliponiculture practice.

Research with stingless bees for use aspollinators exists in Brazil. Malagodi-Bragaand Kleinert (2004) verified the importance ofTetragonisca angustula as effective pollinatorsfor some strawberry cultivars. Additional stud-ies concerning stingless bees as pollinators arein place (Venturieri et al., 2005). Slaa et al.(2006) reviewed this point.

7.4. Meliponiculture in Africa

Stingless bee taxonomy has recently beenreviewed by Eardley (2005). There are over


20 stingless bee species in Africa, butmuch work remains to be done. Stinglessbee studies were conducted by Bassindale(1955), who studied Hypotrigona; Darchen(1972) studied several species, and also madefilms on African stingless bees, availablein www.cerimes.education.fr. Breeding andmeliponiculture in Africa was considered byPortugal-Araujo (1957) in Angola, but thispractice did not evolve in subsequent years.

African stingless bee honey is mostly col-lected by harvesting from feral colonies, whichsubsequently destroys them. A few commu-nities use hollow logs or clay pots as hives,and they harvest the honey in a more sustain-able way. In at least Tanzania, and Angola,meliponiculture exists and an interest to de-velop meliponiculture has been identified inGhana, Kenya, Botswana and South Africa. InAngola, Meliponula bocandei, the largest stin-gless bee, produces 10–15 kg of honey in aseason (Armor, 2005).

7.5. Stingless beekeeping in Australia

In Australia 20 years ago, few beekeepershad more than one or two stingless bee hives.Today, there is a growing interest in nest con-servation. Crop pollination services are devel-oping, honey and cerumen are being harvested,and a stingless bee industry is being developedby the indigenous community. Bees also arebeing used for public education.

There is a growing interest in conservingwild stingless bee colonies. Many individualbeekeepers relocate nests found in fallen treesand artificial sites. In Ipswich, Queensland, arescue group led by C. Heather actively iden-tifies land about to be cleared for developmentand seeks permission to remove nests thatwould otherwise be destroyed. Over a seven-year period this group has rescued 200 sting-less bee nests. Once wild colonies are capturedin hives, they can be allowed to reproduce. In-deed, the increase in popularity of the beesin Australia over the last 20 years is partlydue to the development of a husbandry method(Heard, 1988). Colony multiplication is infre-quent, typically every one to two years, butpopulation growth is exponential.

A survey of stingless bee keeping in Aus-tralia in 1998–99 concluded that 62 bee-keepers kept 317 hives of stingless bees forcrop pollination (Heard and Dollin, 2000).However, only one beekeeper, with 65 hives,was offering crop pollination service. Now, in2005, at least six beekeepers offer stingless beeservices for crop pollination, usually as theirsecondary financial activity. Those beekeep-ers have 15 to 150 hives. Many crop grow-ers are also purchasing their own stingless beecolonies. The main species used for crop pol-lination are Trigona carbonaria and T. hock-ingsi.

Macadamia nut (Macadamia integrifolia),native to eastern Australia, is the most com-mon crop pollinated with stingless bees. Withover 800 farms, Australia is the world’s largestproducer of macadamia nuts. Stingless beesmainly collect pollen from the flowers andare efficient pollinators (Heard, 1994). Manyother crops may be pollinated by stingless bees(Heard, 1999) and in Australia, successful re-sults for lychee, melon and avocado have beenreported. Wild stingless bees often providea free pollination service (Heard and Exley,1994) but where the bees are rare because ofland clearing, hives need to be introduced.

Australian stingless bees prefer to forageclose to their hives, thus tend to stay within thecrop area better than does Apis (Carter, pers.comm.). One beekeeper reports that the effec-tive foraging range of stingless bees withina macadamia crop is 25 m (Adcock, pers.comm.). Stingless bees also cope better thanApis in crops covered by netting (Felhaber,pers. comm.). However, stingless bees can bequite sensitive to pesticides, which can re-sult in substantial bee losses (Grosskopf, pers.comm.).

Demand for crop pollination services withstingless bees in Australia should continueto increase as farmers become informed ofthe benefits and more hives become avail-able. Small hive beetles (Aethina tumida)that are progressively spreading through NewSouth Wales and Queensland may depleteferal Apis populations, increasing demand forpaid pollination services. Varroa mite is alsothreatening to enter Australia and will also re-duce Apis populations.


In addition to crops, native bushland re-quires pollination services. The pollinatorsmay have been driven extinct by humaninduced pressures. Some interest is beingexpressed by managers of bushland to re-introduce stingless bees into conservation ar-eas.

Interest in production and marketing ofAustralian honey is growing. New hive de-signs that are suited to the extraction of honeyand cerumen are being developed. Interest inthe honey is being expressed by restaurantsthat promote native foods. We estimate that thetotal current annual production in Australia isextremely small, possibly less than 100 kg, butthere is potential for rapid growth. The mar-ket price of the honey is currently about AU$50 per kg, wholesale. To develop commer-cially, the price needs to increase, because theproduction per hive is low and the cost of pro-duction is high. Challenges include minimiz-ing fighting swarms and nest parasites (Dollin,2002).

Russell and Janine Zabel have been work-ing with the indigenous community of Au-rukun in far north Queensland since 2002 todevelop a stingless bee industry. Currentlythey have hived over 130 colonies, mostlyT. hockingsi. Stingless bee honey, known toindigenous people as ‘Sugarbag’, is a majorproduct. Cerumen is also collected for mak-ing traditional artifacts (Zabel, pers. comm.).A major potential use for the cerumen is toform the mouthpiece of the “didgeridoo”, atraditional musical instrument. Until recently,cerumen was very difficult to obtain and honeybee wax was used as a substitute. However,stingless bee cerumen is the authentic and su-perior product. Demand is expected to growrapidly as awareness increases.

Stingless bees are attractive subjects forpublic nature education. Museums, exhibi-tions, gardens, and schools in Australia are in-creasingly using social bee colonies to illus-trate the beauty, complexity and fascination ofnature. Topics such as sociality, parasitism andpollination can be demonstrated using theseinsects, which are gentle and easy to keep. TheMelbourne Museum maintains a permanentindoor public display by only occasionally ex-changing the colony with another outside. The

Brisbane Botanic Gardens has a demonstrationlog nest, which they use as part of their educa-tion program. Workshops on stingless bees atnature education centers are growing in pop-ularity. The Australian Native Bee ResearchCentre has a site at www.aussiebee.com.

7.6. Meliponiculture in Asia

Southeast Asia has several honey beespecies and about 45 stingless bee species,but nowhere is there a standard practice calledmeliponiculture. Thailand, like Viet Nam, is avery long country, extending for over 1000 kmsouth to north. In the south, there are five Apisspecies and at least 30 stingless bee species,while in the north, there are four Apis and lessthan 10 stingless bee species. The southernThai name for meliponines is “Oong”, while inthe north, they are called “Channa Long”. Thehoney bees are called “Png”. The local peo-ple only use stingless bee honey for “medicinalpurposes” because they say it is a lot of work toremove the honey from a tree or subterraneannest of stingless bees. In contrast, they can ob-tain several liters of honey from a nest of Apisdorsata or Apis cerana, and many nests of theformer can be harvested on a single tree. Thereis also traditional use of wax from the nestsof Apis dorsata in batik fabric design, so thatthere is a steady demand for honey hunting,using both the comb and the honey, from thegiant honey bee. The local stingless bees haveso little to offer, by comparison, that it doesnot occur to anyone that the keeping of sting-less bees in hives is worth the trouble. Sting-less bee beekeeping for pollination service isonly now beginning to take root in southernAsia (in India) and in SE Asia (Malaysia andthe Philippines).

8. LARGE-SCALE BEEKEEPINGWITH STINGLESS BEES

In Brazil a large quantity of colonies has yetto become available, for instance, to be soldfor agricultural use or for use as greenhousepollinators. To have a system similar to thatof Bombus terrestris (Velthuis and van Doorn,


2004), additional information on queen pro-duction is needed, as well as controlled matingand colony propagation techniques under arti-ficial conditions. Until now queen emergencycells for stingless bees have been found onlyin Frieseomellita varia (Faustino et al., 2002),which allow the propagation of many coloniesin this genus. A similar finding for other stin-gless bees species, such as Frieseomelitta,which construct brood cells in clusters, wouldbe nothing short of revolutionary.

Generally a large number of gynes (po-tential laying queens) is available only forMelipona bees, where gynes, workers andmales emerge from similar brood cells. Re-cent review (see Santos et al., 2006) shows thatMelipona queens are produced in a smallernumber than presumed before, and only a fewnumber of other stingless bees has been stud-ied in relation to gyne and male production(Chin and Sommeijer, 2005). Another per-spective is related to miniature gyne produc-tion (Ribeiro et al., 2006).

9. CONCLUSIONSAND RECOMMENDATIONS

Stingless bee breeding is a significant ac-tivity that permits sustainable agricultural de-velopment and wildlife conservation, but formany species it requires specific managementtechniques and intact natural environments.Villanueva et al. (2005a) mentioned the con-cerns that no new colonies were available forMelipona beecheii in the studied area; bees aredying from lack of food; colonies have lessand less honey, and colonies are diminishingin size. These are likely to be the same prob-lems faced by meliponiculture elsewhere in theworld.

Stingless bee beekeeping, at least in someareas, is disappearing. The younger potentialbeekeepers must join the effort in maintain-ing the population of stingless bees. Basicbiology studies are needed, mainly concern-ing the exploitation of natural resources bythese bees and medium-long-term studies. Thenew meliponiculture will be organized to ide-ally provide agriculture and wildlife with theecosystem services essential for pollination.

In all places where meliponiculture devel-ops, bottlenecks for their improvement includehow to keep and conserve their honey, how torear them in large quantities, how to preventcolonies from being contaminated by agricul-tural pesticides and maintain the bees, how touse their services and conserve their popula-tions, and how to provide qualified informa-tion and training in all levels.

Résumé – Méliponiculture globale : défis etchances. Les abeilles sans aiguillon (Apidae, Meli-ponini) sont des insectes sociaux qui vivent dans lesrégions tropicales et subtropicales du globe. L’im-portance de leurs produits en Amérique latine, prin-cipalement le miel (utilisé comme édulcorant etcomme remède), est souligné. Il existe des docu-ments écrits, principalement les codex mayas, quimontrent le rôle central des abeilles sans aiguillondans la vie religieuse et culturelle. Melipona bee-cheii est la première abeille dont l’élevage en granda été mentionné : elle est élevée dans des troncsd’arbre regroupés en “ méliponaires ”, ruchers pou-vant réunir plusieurs centaines de leurs colonies.Maintenir des abeilles dans des troncs d’arbre aété la première étape de l’élevage dans plusieursrégions du monde où les abeilles sans aiguillonsont indigènes. L’étape suivante a consisté à diviserles colonies. L’utilisation moderne de ces abeillesva les considérer surtout comme fournisseurs deservices pour l’environnement et comme pollinisa-teurs. Il s’agit d’un nouveau défi et d’une occasionpour approfondir leur connaissance et leur utilisa-tion et pour travailler à leur sauvegarde.On trouve la méliponiculture principalement dansles pays où cette activité est traditionnelle. Les co-lonies passent toujours de génération en génération,mais leur importance dans la vie moderne diminue.D’autres sources de sucre, comme la canne à sucreet le miel d’Apis mellifera, sont meilleur marché.On n’a pas mis au point de techniques de sélec-tion des abeilles sans aiguillon et seules quelquesespèces indigènes sont élevées, dont un genre trèsprometteur, Scaptotrigona. Ces abeilles sont égale-ment élevées dans des ruches en argile au Mexique,ainsi qu’au Brésil et en Afrique. Le déclin de la mé-liponiculture au Mexique et la survie de M. beecheiisuscitent des inquiétudes. La situation au Costa-Rica est discutée. Ce pays améliore la méliponicul-ture par l’éducation à l’environnement et un travailavec les petits agriculteurs. Un groupe techniqueissu d’une coopération internationale a été mis enplace afin de fournir un appui scientifique à cetteactivité. Le Brésil possède une tradition apicoleavec les abeilles sans aiguillon. Les indigènes uti-lisaient ces abeilles, et cette connaissance a traverséles générations, comme chez les indiens Kayaporécemment étudiés. La méliponiculture s’améliore


au Brésil ; les apiculteurs sont généralement re-groupés en associations et échangent leurs connais-sances pratiques. Le miel est le principal produit,il est cher et apprécié comme remède. En Afriqueet dans le sud-est asiatique, l’apiculture avec lesabeilles sans aiguillon est confrontée à l’apicultureavec les abeilles du genre Apis, plus efficace pourle commerce. Dans ces régions la connaissance desabeilles sans aiguillon en est à ses débuts. En Aus-tralie les services commerciaux de pollinisation descultures commencent à être fournis par des apicul-teurs qui ont jusqu’à 150 ruches. Le macadamia (quifournit la noix) est la culture plus courante à êtrepollinisée et la production de miel et de cérumenest en augmentation.Partout où la méliponiculture se développe, les gou-lets d’étranglement sont : (i) comment conserver lemiel des abeilles sans aiguillon, (ii) comment lesélever en grandes quantités, (iii) comment faire destraitements insecticides et maintenir les abeilles,(iv) comment utiliser leurs services et préserverleurs populations et (v) comment fournir une in-formation de qualité et une formation à tous les ni-veaux.

méliponiculture / abeille sans aiguillon / élevage /pollinisation /miel / cire / Apidae /Meliponini

Zusammenfassung – Globale Meliponikultur:Herausforderungen und Chancen. StachelloseBienen sind soziale Bienen, die in den Tropen undSubtropen der gesamten Welt verbreitet sind. DieBedeutung ihrer Produkte, vor allem Honig (alsSüssstoff und Medizin) ist besonders in Südameri-ka deutlich. Schriftdokumente, vor allem die MayaCodices, zeigen die zentrale Rolle Stachelloser Bie-nen im religiösen und kulturellen Bereich. Melipo-na beecheii war die erste Bienenart, die in grossenVölkerzahlen gehalten wurde. Es wird von Melipo-narien mit hunderten von Kolonien in Baumklötzenberichtet. Die Haltung von Bienen in Klotzbeutenwar der erste Schritt zu ihrer landwirtschaftlichenNutzung in vielen Teilen der Welt, in denen Stachel-lose Bienen vorkommen. Der nächste Schritt wardie Teilung der Kolonien. Die Nutzung im moder-nen Sinn zielt vor allem auf die Rolle dieser Bienenals Lieferanten von Ökosystemdiensten, wie z.B.Bestäubung. Dies stellt eine neue Herausforderungdar und liefert auch Chancen für ihr Studium, ihreNutzung und Konservierung.Meliponikultur findet man heute vor allem in denLändern in denen diese Aktivität eine Tradition hat.Mexiko war das erste Land. Kolonien werden hierimmer noch über Generationen hinweg weiterge-geben, aber ihre Bedeutung im modernen Lebennimmt ab. Andere Zuckerquellen wie Rohrzuckerund Apis mellifera Honig sind im allgemeinen ko-stengünstiger. Zuchtmethoden für Stachellose Bie-nen wurden so gut wie nicht entwickelt und es

werden nur einige native Arten gehalten, einschlies-slich die in unserem Zusammenhang interessanteGattung Scaptotrigona. Ausser in Klotzbeuten wer-den diese Bienen in Mexiko, Brasilien und Afrikaauch in Tonbeuten gehalten. In der vorliegenden Ar-beit zeigen wir, wie die traditionelle Meliponikul-tur in Mexiko abnimmt und wie sich das auf dasÜberleben vom M. beecheii auswirken kann. Wirdiskutieren ausserdem die Situation in Costa Ri-ca, wo die Meliponikultur in Zusammenhang mitder Umwelterziehung und Arbeiten mit Kleinbau-ern zunehmend Bedeutung gewinnt. In diesem Landwurde über eine internationale Zusammenarbeit ei-ne Expertengruppe aufgebaut, die diese Aktivitä-ten wissenschaftlich unterstützt. Brasilien hat ei-ne Tradition in der Haltung Stachelloser Bienen.Eingeborenenstämme nutzen diese Bienen und ge-ben, wie kürzlich für die Kayapo-Indianer gezeigt,dieses Wissen über Generationen hinweg weiter.Die Meliponikultur in Brasilien ist in einer Auf-schwungsphase und Imker sind in der Regel in Im-kergemeinschaften assoziiert und tauschen ihr prak-tisches Wissen aus. Der Honig Stachelloser Bie-nen ist teuer und wird gerne auch als Medizin ver-abreicht. Afrika und Südostasien sind Regionen indenen die Haltung Stachelloser Bienen mit den inwirtschaftlicher Hinsicht wichtigeren Honigbienenkonfrontiert sein sollte, und in diesen Regionensteckt die Kenntnis Stachelloser Bienen noch in denKinderschuhen. In Australien werden StachelloseBienen jetzt von Imkern mit bis zu 150 Völkern zurBestäubung kommerzieller Früchte eingesetzt, vorallem Makadamia. Zudem ist die Produktion vonHonig und Cerumen im Anstieg begriffen.An allen Orten, an denen die Meliponikultur in Aus-breitung ist, liegen die Engpässe ihrer Entwicklungdarin, wie der Honig Stachelloser Bienen konser-viert werden kann, wie Völker in grosser Anzahlgezüchtet, wie Pestizide appliziert und die Bienengehalten werden können, wie ihre Dienste genutztund Populationen konserviert werden können undwie qualifizierte Information und Schulung auf al-len Ebenen verbreitet und betrieben werden kann.

Meliponikultur / Stachellose Bienen / Bienen-zucht /Honig /Wachs / Bestäuber / Apidae /Me-liponini

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