Thermoregulation of stingless bee colonies in boxes for rationale breeding in the Center-West of the state of Maranhão

Abstract

Indigenous stingless bees of the subfamily Meliponinae are recognized as bees native to Brazil. They have an atrophied sting and are widely distributed throughout tropical regions, from Mexico to the south of Brazil on the American Continent. This study was carried out to evaluate the thermoregulatory behavior in colonies of stingless bees allocated in rational breeding boxes in the municipality of Grajaú, Central West region of the state of Maranhão. The project was developed at the IFMA Grajaú Campus, where two models of rational breeding boxes for stingless bees were made to evaluate which of the models has greater colonial development of two species of bees (Melipona fasciculata and Melipona flavolineata) when transferred from the native nests to the rational breeding boxes. To this end, digital thermometers were installed in stingless bee hives and thermo-hygrometers to monitor the maximum and minimum daily temperature for six months. Despite a wide variation in maximum and minimum external temperatures, the bees managed to maintain the temperature between 23.5º and 33.9ºC and the relative humidity between 39 and 64% inside the hives throughout the days, especially the hives in model 1. This was the most adapted prototype for rearing bees in this experiment, with good thermoregulation of stingless bee colonies throughout the day in both species over the study months.