Stingless Bees: An Overview

Abstract

The tropics and subtropics are home to thousands of different types of bees. One bee group that frequently calls an observer’s attention are the stingless bees or Meliponini. In the Neotropics, for example, about half of all bees that one is likely to see on flowers belongs to this group (Chap. 9). Stingless bees can be smaller than a fruit fly or as large as the giant honey bee Apis dorsata. Like honey bees (Apini), stingless bees live in colonies and produce honey. They are potential pollinators of thousands of plant species and play important roles in human cultures. Like many other animals, stingless bees face new challenges in an increasingly human-modified world, including large-scale habitat loss, the widespread use of agrochemicals, climate change and introduced species, all of which put pressure on stingless bee populations (see Sect. 1.9).