Important Bee Plants for African and Other Stingless Bees

Abstract

Stingless bees are distributed throughout tropical parts of the world with their highest abundance in the neotropics. Many studies suggest that stingless bees use a wide range of food plants, leading to overlap in pollen spectrum between bee species. A variety of tree species, shrubs, and agricultural crops provide pollen and nectar to the bees. Important food plant families include legumes (Mimosaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Myrtaceae, Asteraceae, Moraceae, Anacardiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Solanaceae). The important plant life forms used (in order of importance) by stingless bees include trees, shrubs, herbs, climbers, and runners. Stingless bees nest in tree cavities, house wall crevices, and underground. Trees contain more nests, compared to the other nesting substrates. Some predominant plant families used for nesting are Anacardiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, and Lauraceae. Most stingless bee nests are located in large trees, with some trees holding multiple nests. Availability of tree cavities normally accounts for stingless bee nest aggregation in trees. Stingless bees build nests in tree cavities with bias towards lower heights.