Melipona Beecheii Research Articles

Antioxidant and Antibacterial Properties of Ethanolic Pot-Pollen Extracts of Melipona beecheii and Determination of the Major Components by GC-MS.

Melipona beecheii pot-pollen is a natural product that has barely been studied, unlike other hive products such as honey and propolis. Its application has been reported since ancient times in traditional Mayan medicine, and it is also a functional food with high nutritional value. In the present study, samples of ethanolic pot-pollen extracts from five locations in the Yucatán Peninsula were analyzed to determine their antibacterial and antioxidant properties. All the extracts showed activity against five medically important bacteria; Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Listeria monocytogenes were the most susceptible bacteria in all samples. The evaluated antioxidant activity was higher than that reported by other studies. Palmitic, linoleic, and linolenic fatty acids and their respective ethyl ethers were detected by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) in all samples in different concentrations. Based on these results, pot-pollen extract from Mama, Yucatán exhibited the best biological activities (Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) between 6 and 40 mg/mL, EC50 DPPH 28 μg/mL, EC50 RP 30 μg/mL), which could be related to a higher content of unsaturated fatty acids and their ethyl esters. The present study demonstrates that M. beecheii pot-pollen has therapeutic potential in addition to its benefits as a nutritional supplement.

Physicochemical and biological properties of honey samples from Melipona beecheii Bennett collected in Hopelchén, Campeche

Physicochemical and biological properties of honey samples from Melipona beecheii Bennett collected in Hopelchén, Campeche

Frequency and behavior of Melipona stingless bees and orchid bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in relation to floral characteristics of vanilla in the Yucatán region of Mexico.

Vanilla planifolia is native to the Mexican tropics. Despite its worldwide economic importance as a source of vanilla for flavoring and other uses, almost all vanilla is produced by expensive hand-pollination, and minimal documentation exists for its natural pollination and floral visitors. There is a claim that vanilla is pollinated by Melipona stingless bees, but vanilla is more likely pollinated by orchid bees. Natural pollination has not been tested in the Yucatán region of Mexico, where both vanilla and potential native bee pollinators are endemic. We document for the first time the flowering process, nectar production and natural pollination of V. planiflora, using bagged flower experiments in a commercial planting. We also assessed the frequency and visitation rates of stingless bees and orchid bees on flowers. Our results showed low natural pollination rates of V. planifolia (~ 5%). Only small stingless bees (Trigona fulviventris and Nannotrigona perilampoides) were seen on flowers, but no legitimate visits were witnessed. We verified that there were abundant Euglossa and fewer Eulaema male orchid bees around the vanilla plants, but neither visited the flowers. The introduction of a colony of the stingless bee Melipona beecheii and the application of chemical lures to attract orchid bees failed to induce floral visitations. Melipona beecheii, and male orchid bees of Euglossa viridissima and E. dilemma may not be natural pollinators of vanilla, due to lack of attraction to flowers. It seems that the lack of nectar in V. planifolia flowers reduces the spectrum of potential pollinators. In addition, there may be a mismatch between the attractiveness of vanilla floral fragrances to the species of orchid bees registered in the studied area. Chemical studies with controlled experiments in different regions would be important to further elucidate the potential pollinators of vanilla in southern Mexico.

In Vivo Wound-Healing and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Honey Produced by Melipona beecheii Bees

Background: Honey produced by the Melipona beecheii bees has been highly prized in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times for its therapeutic properties, particularly in wound healing. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the in vivo wound-healing and anti-inflammatory effects of M. beecheii honey using an animal model. Methods: Honey samples were collected from the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Male albino mice were utilized to test the wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties of the honey, with pirfenidone (KitosCell®) and indomethacin (1 and 30 mg/mL) serving as positive controls, respectively. Results: From day one, enhancements in wound healing, granulation tissue formation, and continuous contraction of the wound edges were observed. In terms of anti-inflammatory activity, the honey dose was capable of reducing edema comparably to the control group receiving 1 mg/mL of indomethacin. However, differences were noted when compared to the 30 mg/mL indomethacin control group in three of the groups. Conclusions: It can be concluded that M. beecheii honey exhibits wound-healing and anti-inflammatory effects comparable to those of the positive controls used in this study. Therefore, it offers a viable alternative for the topical treatment of wounds.

Antimicrobial activity of stingless bee honey (Tribe: Meliponini) on clinical and foodborne pathogens: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

AbstractHoney produced by stingless bees (Tribe: Meliponini) is well‐known for their medicinal and antimicrobial properties from their diverse content of bioactive compounds. However, it has not been possible to fully characterize its active principles. The present systematic review is based on 117 full‐text articles. Our review highlights (1) the need to apply complementary methodologies and consolidate protocols to quantify antimicrobial activity (2) to characterize antimicrobial agents in honeys of Heterotrigona itama, Tetragonisca angustula, and Melipona beecheii, and; (3) to search for compounds against multidrug‐resistant and/or biofilm‐forming pathogens. Moreover, we performed a meta‐analysis of 29 articles with quantitative data using diffusion assays and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were the most evaluated pathogens, evidencing 221 and 149 antimicrobial activity assays against honey samples of 36 and 24 stingless bee species, respectively. The highest pooled mean in diffusion assays against S. aureus showed a difference between methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and non‐MRSA strains {14.43 [95% confidence interval (CI): 12.16–16.71] mm vs. 11.55 (95% CI: 10.22–12.87) mm}, whereas E. coli showed pooled means of 9.09 (95% CI: 7.93–10.25) mm. Regarding MIC expressed as volume/volume percentage (%, v/v), the estimated inhibitory concentrations were 7.89 (95% CI: 3.94–11.83) mL/100 mL for MRSA and 5.60 (95% CI: 2.66–8.55) mL/100 mL considering all S. aureus strains. In contrast, the estimated MICs as weight/volume percentage (%, w/v) showed 15.00 [(95% CI: 12.84–17.16) g/100 mL for S. aureus and 16.17 (95% CI: 5.78–26.55) g/100 mL for E. coli. However, honey remains an unexplored source of antimicrobial molecules.

Melissopalynology of pot-pollen and pot-honey of the Mayan stingless bee Melipona beecheii Bennett, 1831 (Apidae, Meliponini) in Yucatan, Mexico

The Mayan bee Melipona beecheii is one of the most important and widely cultivated stingless bees in Mexico. In order to document pollen and nectar resources for M. beecheii during the dry season, 25 pot-pollen and 25 pot-honey samples were collected from February to May 2021 at eight villages in Yucatan, Mexico. All samples were acetolysed, and 500 pollen grains were counted randomly for each sample. A total of 21 taxa belonging to eight botanical families were observed in the pot-pollen samples; in contrast, 32 pollen types from 16 botanical families were recorded in the pot-honey samples. According to PCA analyses, the pollen types that explained the maximum variance among the pot-pollen samples were Senna racemosa var. racemosa, Lonchocarpus punctatum, Cochlospermum vitifolium, Bursera schlechtendalii and B. simaruba, while S. racemosa var. racemosa, C. vitifolium, Alternanthera ramosissima, Psidium guajava, B. schlechtendalii, B. simaruba, L. punctatum, Mimosa bahamensis and Solanum americanum explained the greatest variance among the pot-honey samples. Our results confirm that M. beecheii displays polylectic foraging and targets for the secondary vegetation of tropical deciduous and tropical semideciduous forests. Diversity in the pot-pollen was found to be lower than that of the pot-honey samples. Since some pot-honey samples were overrepresented by the pollen grains of S. racemosa var. racemosa, PCA and cluster analysis grouped those pot-pollen and pot-honey samples together.

Beekeeping from the South

Abstract This article examines the role of the stingless bee Melipona beecheii in beekeeping practices in the Yucatán Peninsula, México, in the nineteenth century. Native to Yucatán, the Melipona bee is capable of producing large amounts of honey and has been bred by Maya communities for over three thousand years. In the twentieth century, the Melipona population declined with the implementation of modern apiculture, a system designed to maximize the production of honey and wax with the European native honeybee, Apis mellifera. Previous scholarship on beekeeping has labeled the development of modern apiculture and the systematic expansion of the European honeybee across the Americas as a success story. However, these studies do not consider the cultural, economic, and social transformations brought by the introduction of Apis mellifera in environments that were already rich in bee biodiversity. In order to provide some clues about the impact of—and responses to—modern apiculture, this article focuses on the moment before this process occurred in the Yucatán Peninsula, when Melipona was still environmentally, culturally, and economically significant. The author argues that, far from being an unchanging cultural practice doomed to be superseded by modern apiculture, Melipona beekeeping continued to adapt in sophisticated ways to a modernizing world. During a period of upheaval, extraction of natural resources, environmental exploitation, violence, and Indigenous peoples’ defense of their land, the Melipona continued to be the only domesticated bee species used for beeswax and honey extraction in the entire peninsula during the nineteenth century.

Effect of conA-unbound proteins from Melipona beecheii honey on the formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 biofilm.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterium that can form a biofilm with the ability to colonize different surfaces and for increasing resistance to antibiotics. An alternative to solve this problem may be the use of non-glucose/mannose glycosylated proteins from Melipona beecheii honey, which are capable of inhibiting the growth of this pathogen. In this work, the antibiofilm activity of the conA-unbound protein fraction (F1) from M. beecheii was evaluated. The crude protein extract (CPE) and the F1 fraction inhibited the P. aeruginosa biofilm growth above 80% at 4 and 1.3µg/mL, respectively. These proteins affected the structure of the biofilm, as well as fleQ and fleR gene expressions involved in the formation and regulation of the P. aeruginosa biofilm. The results demonstrated that the F1 fraction proteins of M. beecheii honey inhibit and affect the formation of the P. aeruginosa biofilm.

Influence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids on the colour and antioxidant activity of Melipona beecheii honey from deciduous forest of Yucatan, Mexico

The Melipona beecheii honey has bioactive compounds with high antioxidant activity that influence its colour. This research evaluated the influence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids on the colour and antioxidant activity of M. beecheii honeys. Forty-three honey samples from different site located in the low deciduous forest of Yucatan, Mexico, were extracted during the harvest and post-harvest seasons (2020 – 2021). The Pfund method was used to measure colour, Folin-Ciocalteu method for phenols measurement, aluminum chloride method for flavonoids determination, and ABTS and DPPH IC50 assay to determine antioxidants. The predominant colour of the honey was extra light amber and light amber at both seasons. Phenols ranged from 780 to 1317 mg/kg GAE; flavonoids from 36 to 55 mg/kg CE and antioxidant were 675 to 1161 µmol/kg TEAC by the ABTS and 361.8 to 173.0 mg/mL by the DPPH IC50. Phenols and flavonoids were correlated with colour and radical scavenging activity, indicating the influence of these compounds with the darker colour and higher antioxidant activity of honey. The statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between seasons could be associated with the botanical origin with great diversity of melliferous flora present in the low deciduous forest of the Yucatan Peninsula.
 
 Keywords: Antioxidant; colour; flavonoids; honey; Melipona beecheii.

Identification of Floral Resources Used by the Stingless Bee Melipona beecheii for Honey Production in Different Regions of the State of Campeche, Mexico

The stingless bee Melipona beecheii is experiencing colony decline due to floral resource scarcity caused by deforestation. A study was conducted to identify the floral resources used by M. beecheii using honey samples collected in four regions of the state of Campeche, Mexico. A melissopalynological analysis of sixteen collected honey samples identified 69 plant species from 24 families, and established that Fabaceae was the main plant family visited. Based on botanical origin, seven samples were classified as monofloral and nine as multifloral. The predominant species were Bursera simaruba, Lonchocarpus longistylus, Piscidia piscipula, Senna pallida and Senna racemosa. Shannon diversity index values (2.06–2.55) indicated moderate diversity in floral resources and Simpson diversity index values (0.82–0.89) indicated a moderate dominance of plant species in the studied regions. The results suggest M. beecheii is polylectic with some degree of specialization. The plant species identified as predominant in the studied honey samples are candidates for use in strategies intended to conserve the food resources used by M. beecheii on the Yucatan Peninsula.

Physicochemical, Rheological, and Thermal Properties of Pot-Honey from the Stingless Bee Melipona beecheii

The availability of data on physicochemical properties is crucial to direct efforts towards identifying the quality standards of the Neotropical stingless bee Melipona beecheii’s pot-honey. In this vein, other properties apart from those typically considered for Apis mellifera could also be relevant in characterizing the honey of this stingless bee. The physicochemical, rheological, and thermal properties of pot-honey from Melipona beecheii (Yucatán, México) were analyzed. Samples were collected from two annual harvests (2018 and 2019) and from a rural and an urban location. Free acidity, moisture, total reducing sugars, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural content, and electrical conductivity were measured using standard techniques. The rheological and thermal behaviors were determined via Couette rheometry and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. The physicochemical properties of Melipona beecheii pot-honey can be incorporated into a general quality specification for honey of the Neotropical Melipona genus, or as the basis for a regional (Mesoamerican) standardization of honey from this particular bee species. The rheological analyses indicated the Newtonian behavior of Melipona honey in the full studied range of 10-40 °C (7,545-244 cp), showing dynamic viscosities significantly lower than those expected for Apis mellifera honey, primarily due to its high water content. Two main endothermic transitions were detected via differential scanning calorimetry: at 96-162 °C and at 169-230 °C. The Apis mellifera honey samples showed the same thermal transitions but differed from Melipona beecheii honey in their peak temperatures and enthalpies.

Polyphenol galangin induces the ROS and ER stress-mediated intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways towards human colon carcinoma HCT-116 cells

The Melipona beecheii honey has bioactive compounds with high antioxidant activity that influence its colour. This research evaluated the influence of phenolic compounds and flavonoids on the colour and antioxidant activity of M. beecheii honeys. Forty-three honey samples from different site located in the low deciduous forest of Yucatan, Mexico, were extracted during the harvest and post-harvest seasons (2020 – 2021). The Pfund method was used to measure colour, Folin-Ciocalteu method for phenols measurement, aluminum chloride method for flavonoids determination, and ABTS and DPPH IC50 assay to determine antioxidants. The predominant colour of the honey was extra light amber and light amber at both seasons. Phenols ranged from 780 to 1317 mg/kg GAE; flavonoids from 36 to 55 mg/kg CE and antioxidant were 675 to 1161 µmol/kg TEAC by the ABTS and 361.8 to 173.0 mg/mL by the DPPH IC50. Phenols and flavonoids were correlated with colour and radical scavenging activity, indicating the influence of these compounds with the darker colour and higher antioxidant activity of honey. The statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between seasons could be associated with the botanical origin with great diversity of melliferous flora present in the low deciduous forest of the Yucatan Peninsula.
 Keywords: Antioxidant; colour; flavonoids; honey; Melipona beecheii.

Melipona beecheii (Hymenoptera, Apidae) foragers deposit a chemical mark on food to attract conspecifics

Stingless bees have a sophisticated system of chemical communication that helps conspecifics find food sources. In this study, we investigated whether Melipona beecheii foragers deposit a chemical mark on food to recruit conspecifics. Our results showed that foragers preferred to visit the feeders visited previously by conspecifics over clean feeders. We also found that foragers preferred visiting feeders baited with labial gland extracts over those baited with mandibular extracts or hexane. Labial gland extracts elicited higher forager antennal responses compared with those evoked by the mandibular gland extracts or hexane. Labial gland extracts and extracts from feeders visited by foragers contain a mixture of unsaturated hydrocarbons, followed by straight chain hydrocarbons and small quantities of esters. The main component is a mixture of alkene isomers C27:1.

Impact of climate change on Melipona beecheii and socioeconomic assessment of meliponiculture in the mexican southeast

The present study aimed to show the impact of climate change on Melipona bees in the Yucatan Peninsula and the socioeconomic situation of Melipona honey producers. Meliponiculture is a very important activity for some Mayans in the Yucatan Peninsula. However, the production of Melipona honey and its territorial distribution has decreased in recent decades, compared to the last century. Fieldwork was carried out in the east of the state of Yucatan to assess honey production activities and the socioeconomic situation of the population that depends on them. Data from Worldclim was used to generate distribution models for Melipona bees as well as scenarios of the impact of climate change on these species in the next seven decades. The scenarios that assume the continued presence of Melipona bees in the next seven decades show disappointing results in the face of climate change. It is necessary to implement effective public policies that help promote the well-being of both Melipona bees and the population that depends on them.

Living in honey: bacterial and fungal communities in honey of sympatric populations of Apis mellifera and the stingless bee Melipona beecheii, in Yucatan, Mexico.

Bacterial and fungal communities in the honey of sympatric populations of the bee species Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii were profiled by amplicon sequencing of the 16S gene and the ITS of the ribosomal DNA. Results showed that the structure of the honey microbiota of these two bee species was very different from each other. Both the bacterial and fungal species in A. mellifera honey were more similar to those of A. mellifera honey reported for other parts of the world than to those in M. beecheii honey. Nevertheless, in both, the most abundant bacterial species belonged to the family Lactobacillaeae.

Analysis of the Hive Yield of Three Species of Bees for Honey Production in Eastern Honduras

Objectives: The analysis of the performance of honey production hives of three species of honeybees was carried out.
 Study Design: Three harvests per year of honey per hive of each species the first was on March-April, the second was on June-July, and the third was on November -December, with a sampling of ten hives per species, data were evaluated by ANOVA analysis, and Duncan mean separation test developed by SAS/STAT program.
 Place and Duration of the Study: This research was developed in the department of Paraíso, municipality of Danlí, Honduras, Central America, in Cerro El Águila, latitude 13°56'59" N, and longitude 86°13'59" W, the sampling was carried out in 2020.
 Methodology: The qualitative variables were evaluated for each species by In Situ observation that characterized the honeycombs of the three species, and the data were subjected to an analysis of variance and Duncan's mean separation, where the dependent variable is the average yield of Kg of honey/hive.
 Results: According to the ANOVA, there are significant differences in: the harvest of the three species of bees (p<0.0001), for the three annual harvests (p=0.0024), and by hives (p<0.0001) and in the analysis of separation of means the three averages of honey yield observed are not homogeneous (P>0.05), the Apis mellifera produces 63.1 kg/hive-year, the Tetragonisca angustula obtained an average of 0.679 kg / hive-year, and Melipona beecheii obtained 13.19 kg/hive-year.
 Conclusion: In the three species is observed that they have differences in the structures of the construction of their hives, their entrance, the construction of their cells, production and storage of honey and pollen, birth of queens, and method of defense; and when evaluating the average annual yield by species, by harvest, and by hives, is found that the three variables evaluated of bees are different averages of honey production.

Sugars and °Brix in honey from Apis mellifera, Melipona beecheii, and commercial honey from a local market in Mexico

Fructose and glucose are the main sugars in honey, and their concentration is expected to correspond to the specifications of official standards. The study compared the composition of sugars and ºBrix in honey from Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii bees, and a product marketed as bee honey in a local market. The sugar content was determined by highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a refractive index detector, and °Brix was determined using a refractometer. None of the honey analyzed had detectable levels of sucrose. The average concentration of fructose and glucose in honey was 36.4 and 28.9 g 100 g-1 for Apis mellifera, and 38.5 and 28.2 g 100 g-1 for honey from Melipona beecheii. For honey from the local market, the respective concentrations of these sugars were 7.5 and 17.0 g 100 g-1. The fructose:glucose ratio (F:G) was higher than one in Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii honey, and 0.4 for honey from the local market. The three types of honey compared had similar values for °Brix. It is concluded that the honey under study by Apis mellifera and Melipona beecheii have similar qualities within international standards. In contrast, the product marketed as bee honey in the local market did not meet official regulations specifications and could not be considered authentic.

Tragedy of the commons in Melipona bees revisited.

Melipona stingless bees display a paradoxical overproduction of queens, which are later eliminated by nest-mate workers. Mechanistically, it was suggested that the monoterpenoid geraniol deposited into newly provisioned cells by adult bees would cause larvae to develop into queens in Melipona beecheii. This system could be evolutionarily stable if many of these new queens were to leave the nest and parasitize other genetically unrelated colonies nearby, as was shown to occur in a congeneric species. Here, we use microsatellite markers to test whether queen overproduction could be a strategy by which adult workers control the caste fate of the developing larvae to export copies of their own genes to the rest of the population via queen parasitism in M. beecheii. In addition, we re-examined whether artificially increasing the levels of geraniol indeed caused larvae to develop as queens rather than workers. Contrary to our prediction, we found no evidence for queen parasitism in M. beecheii and observed no effect of geraniol on the rearing of new queens. Together, these results support the original 'tragedy of the commons' hypothesis for queen overproduction in Melipona bees, where individual larvae selfishly bias their development towards the queen pathway according to their best evolutionary interests.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of proteins isolated from Melipona beecheii honey

Proteins from Melipona beecheii honey were purified by concanavalin A (conA) affinity chromatography and eluted with a stepwise glucose gradient into fractions named F2-F5. The conA-unbound fraction (F1) was further separated by molecular exclusion into fractions named MbF1-1,2 and MbF1-3. All fractions were evaluated for antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens and antioxidant capacity. F1 fraction possessed highest antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, S. Typhimurium, E. coli and P. aeruginosa with MIC’s 1.4 ± 0.2, 15 ± 1, 39 ± 2, 1 ± 0.1, and 75 ± 2 µg/mL, respectively. F1, MbF1-1,2 and MbF1-3 had bactericidal effect except against P. aeruginosa. When the antioxidant capacity of the fractions was determined, F2 had the highest antioxidant activity measured by DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 2.4 ± 0.4 µg/µL) and reducing power of Fe(III) (IC50 = 1.8 ± 0.2 µg/µL). We provide evidence that M. beecheii honey proteins possess broad spectrum antibacterial and antioxidant activity, the latter probably through their reducing agent and free radical scavenger properties.

Physicochemical and Microbiological Standards of Honey Produced by Genus Melipona

Abstract For thousands of years, honey from stingless bees, mainly from Melipona beecheii, has been recognized as part of traditional Mayan medicine in the Mesoamerican region. Currently Melipona honey is the subject of research due to its nutritional, therapeutic and commercial value. Studies have been conducted to characterize Melipona honey produced on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in, but the results have been limited. The low production and botanical-geographical origin of the honey increases the variability of the results and also the real number of Melipona beekeepers in the area is unknown so we are unable to conduct a statistically representative sampling and enough information to establish a generalization of the information. Therefore, we reviewed the published articles that describe the physicochemical and microbiological characteristics of the honey of some species of the genus Melipona. The information analyzed indicated that some of these characteristics are out of the specifications established by the standard that applies to Apis mellifera honey, without this meaning that it is of lesser quality and therefore. Because production and commercialization of this product is prospering, physicochemical and microbiological standards must be established to avoid adulteration and complications to public health, since this product is widely used for therapeutic purposes.