Our bees

Our bees

Introduction to Native Stingless Bees

Stingless bees play a fundamental role in the maintenance of biodiversity in the tropics, and are responsible for the pollination of some 80 % of tropical plant species [34]. Brazilian ecosystems host around 5,000 species of native bees, which is nearly 20 % of the world’s bee diversity [35].

The term stingless bee is given because they have an atrophied stinger, which makes the bees incapable of stinging. These characteristics encompass all species described in Brazil, also known as indigenous bees, as their domestication and classification came from indigenous cultures. (BUENO, 2010).

About 550 stingless bees species belonging to ~58 genera have been described, which makes the Stingless Bees (Meliponini) the largest and most diverse group of corbiculate bees. In comparison, there are ~11 species of honey bees, ~250 species of bumble bees and ~200–250 species of orchid bees (Michener 2007; Danforth et al. 2013; Ascher and Pickering 2018).

Stingless Bees Distribution & Species Diversity

Stingless bees are found throughout most of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world such as Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and in some parts of South America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia and Costa Rica) (Camargo and Pedro, 2012).

Phylogenetic analyses confirm a principal division into three different groups that diverged at an early stage in the evolutionary history of Meliponini: the Afrotropical, the Indo-Malay/Australasia and the Neotropical lineages (Rasmussen and Cameron 2010).

Book n°1 Chapter 1 - Global diversity of stingless bees. Size of the areas is proportional to the number of species in each genus (Total: ≈550 described species)

Book n°1 Chapter 2 – Present Day-Diversity & Distribution

It was reported that the stingless bees have been inhabiting Earth longer than European honeybees, since 65 million years ago. Stingless bees were the main pollinators of plants on the American continent before the introduction honeybees from Europe.

The Mayans incorporated meliponiculture in their social, economic and religious activities (e.g., Cortopassi-Laurino et al. 2006). Honey and cerumen were used for trading with the Aztecs and as a way to pay taxes to Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century (e.g., Quezada-Euán 2018).

Amazomel: Meliponiculture is an alternative, sustainable & regenerative income source to catling, logging, or intensive crop monoculture which prevents deforestation. Amazomel: Native stingless bees are keystone species within local ecosystems and thus preserve their ecological functions and services.

During foraging, stingless bees collect pollen, nectar, oils, water, resins, muds and sand particles. Most stingless bees species communicate with each other on locations of forage sources by secreting pheromones (Michener, 2013)

In the night, workers on guard retreat into the nest and use propolis to close their nest entrances. This behaviour prevents ants, beetles and other animals from entering the nest.

Stingless bees collects various materials to build its structures, such as nests, honey pots and the construction of the colony entrance. This material collected by the bees can be transformed into wax by combining resins or tree sap, called cerumen. The Melipona genus uses clay mixed with tree resin to build its entrance, called geopropolis (NOGUEIRA-NETO, 1997).

History & Origin of Stingless Bees

Behavior of Stingless Bees

SPECIES

Brazil is the country with the highest number of species of Meliponini recorded, with approximately 240 valid species (PedRo 2014; asCheR & PiCkeRing 2022). Northern region almost twice as many species (n=197, totaling 39.47%) compared to the Midwest (n=99).

1st Amazonas (n=128)

2nd Pará (n=119)

3rd Rondônia (n=82)

GENUS

1st Genus:

Melipona Illiger (1806):

40 species

2nd Genus:

Plebeia Schwarz (1938):

17 species

3rd Genus:

Scaptotrigona Moure (1942):

16 species

OCCURRENCE

Since the last survey of species occurring specifically in Brazil (2014), 59 new species of stingless bees have been described for the Neotropical region, 16 of them with occurrence records for Brazil.

The Case of Brazil

3rd Study - Number of valid species of stingless bees in Brazil

Bees SDGs Contributions

Based on Patel et al., 2020

Target 1.1: Keeping bees provides opportunities for income diversity

Target 1.4: Beekeeping can provide equal access to economic and natural resources for both men and women

Target 1.5: Beekeeping can result in livelihood improvements for smallholder farmers through increased farm productivity and an additional income stream, helping build resilient livelihoods for poor and vulnerable people

Target 2.2: Enhanced nutritional value of fruits, vegetables, and seeds

Target 2.3: improving yield of some crops

Target 3.4: Bee products have strong bioactive compounds

Target 3.8: honey, bee pollen, propolis, beeswax and bee venom have all been used in traditional and modern medicine (antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activities)

Target 3.9: Bee pollination potentially contributes to the growth and diversity of plants that are important for improved air quality

Target 4.3 & 4.4: vocational education & training in beekeeping can enhance equal opportunities for employment & entrepreneurship among men, women and indigenous people (with traditional knowledge)

Target 4.5: education for all, including indigenous people, and without gender inequality

Target 5.5: keeping bees as a hobby or being involved in beekeeping can enhance opportunities for women’s involvement in economic, social and political decision-making processes even in communities that deprive women of property rights (5.5, 5.a)

Target 6.6: Biodiversity found within forests, which bees are supporting, provides a critical range of ecosystem services including water cycle regulation. Bee pollination may contribute to growth and diversity in water-related ecosystems. Appropriate afforestation efforts may provide new resources for commercial bee operations whilst potentially contributing to regional water supply

Target 7.2: Bee pollination improves production for oilseed crops used as biofuel such as sunflower, canola and rapeseed

Target 8.1: Beekeeping enables livelihood diversification, which directly contribute to an increase in per capita and household income. Also, improved agricultural production from bee pollination may contribute to the GDP of nations

Target 8.6: beekeeping education promote economic opportunities and diversification for employment and entrepreneurial enterprise

Target 8.9: Beekeeping provides additional livelihood opportunities through increased nature-based tourism activities

Target 9.b: Bees have contributed to industry, innovation and infrastructure by inspiring the design and development of a range of structures, devices and algorithms that can benefit sustainable development (honeycomb structure of beehives for structural engineering, bee anatomy for medical industry surgical needles, …)

Target 10.1: beekeeping allow for enhanced fiscal opportunities (tourism) and sustained income growth for lower income groups and people in rural areas

Target 10.2: Beekeeping can hence contribute to promoting inclusive social, economic and institutional development, irrespective of social and economic status

Target 11.6: Bees can be useful in monitoring air quality in urban areas, as pollination of urban flora can support improved local air quality

Target 11.7: Planting aesthetically pleasing, bee-attractive flowering species in landscape planning can provide forage for bees, and close proximity may result in pollination rewards for trees and other species in public green spaces and urban gardens

Target 12.3: Bee pollination can contribute to reducing food waste by improving visual aesthetics of food (shape, size and colour) and increase shelf life

Target 12.b: Beekeeping can be marketed as sustainable tourism for regional development

Target 13.2: Biodiversity found within forests, which bees are supporting, provides a critical range of ecosystem services including carbon sequestration

Target 13.3: Use of bees and bee products for environmental monitoring can improve understanding of climate impacts on the environment (as bio-indicator)

Target 14.4: Bees can potentially contribute to improved production of plant-based sources of compounds commonly found in fish. Overharvesting of fish can be managed by promoting production and consumption of alternative plant-based nutrient sources, which are heavily affected by bees pollination

Target 15.1: beekeeping within forest boundaries can support forest conservation

Target 15.5: Bees contribute to biodiversity by pollinating flowering trees and plants

Target 15.9: Incorporating beekeeping (and understanding bee forage preference, suitability and mobility between different habitat types) in local planning processes may support reforestation activities which can be critical for designing sustainable rural landscapes and reducing poverty

Sources

Chidi & Odo, 2017 – Meliponiculture for sustainable economy (1st Study)
Rozman et al., 2022 – A Comprehensive Review of Stingless Bee Products (2nd Study)
Nogueira, 2023 – Overview of Stingless Bees in Brazil (3rd Study)
Ramalho, 2004 – Stingless bees and mass flowering trees in the canopy of Atlantic Forest: a tight relationship (4th Study)
Toledo-Hernandez et al., 2022 – The stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponi): a review of the current threats to their survival (5th Study)
Athayde, Stepp & Ballester, 2016) – Engaging indigenous and academic knowledge on bees in the Amazon: implications for environmental management and transdisciplinary research (6th Study)
De Sousa Silva et al., 2023 – Socioeconomic aspects of meliponiculturists in the Amazon: challenges for the effective creation of stingless bees aiming at the maintenance of environmental and ecosystem services (7th Study)
Da Costa et al., 2021 – Meliponiculture in Amazonas: Challenges for maintenance of environmental services, sustainability and well-being of roral communities (8th Study)
De Souza Oliveira, 2020 – Etnobiologia das Abelhas Nativas do Brasil nas Etnias Kaiabi, Kayapo, Xavante e Guarani (9th Study)
De Andrade, 2014 – Caracterizaçao de Morfologia Floral de Especies Visitadas por Meliponas de Criaçao em Parintins, Estado do Amazonas (10th Study)
Patel et al., 2020 – Why bees are critical for achieving sustainable development (11th Study)
Khan, 2023 – Review of the Role of Bees as Ecosystem Engineers in Nature
Grüter, 2020 – Stingless Bees – Their Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (Book)
Ayala, Gonzalez and Engel, 2013 – Pot-Honey – A legacy of stingless bees (Book 2) – Chapter Mexican Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae): Diversity, Distribution, and Indigenous Knowledge
Tetra Native Bee Blog – Native Stingless Bee Honey vs Manuka: a comprehensive comparison, 14.02.2024
Instituto Peabiru, 2015 – The Amazon, pollination and the Peabiru Institute – A quick view about the Amazon and its socioenvironmental challenges
'Melipona scutellaris' © 2025 by Jessica Maccaro PhD Student and MacroPhotographer PhD Student with the University of of Southern California Riverside