Flight activity behavior of stingless bee (Apidae: Meliponini) in an urban park outside their natural range: the influence of hive temperature

Abstract

In South America, the movement of stingless bee colonies outside their natural location is a common practice and, in many cases, meliponiculture activities are conducted in urban or semi-urban areas. In this study, we used a temperature/relative humidity probe inside the hives to assess indicators of hive dynamics to explore the adaptation of Scaptotrigona jujuyensis colonies located in an urban park outside the species’ natural range. The temperature inside the hives was negatively correlated with environmental temperature and its range was narrower than in the empty box (control). These results suggest that the colonies regulate the internal temperature and form a microenvironment, with average values ranging between 29 and 21 °C in the brood chamber, and between 27 and 19 °C in the storage chamber. The number of bees involved in the three flight activities studied varied with the time of the day, through the season and colony. Nevertheless, between 10:00 and 15:00 h, all colonies showed high and continuous activity. The pattern of activity curves of S. jujuyensis tends to be similar to other Scaptotrigona. Finally, we fit Generalized Linear Models to assess the effect of abiotic variables on the flight activity of S. jujuyensis through a negative binomial model. Our results show that the temperature of the brood chamber, relative humidity and colony size best predict the collection of pollen and removal pellets into the hive. These results contribute to the management and conservation of this native species in a new scenario of geographic distribution.