Stingless Bee Melipona Beecheii Research Articles

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.

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.

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.

A genetic and morphological survey to trace the origin of Melipona beecheii (Apidae: Meliponini) from Cuba

The stingless bee Melipona beecheii is extensively distributed across Mexico and Central America and the only Melipona found in the Greater Antilles. The aim of this work was to establish possible continental affinities of M. beecheii from the Antilles. We compared populations from the main island (Cuba) with two clearly separated genetic lineages of M. beecheii on mainland, namely the Yucatan peninsula (Mexico) and Costa Rica. We used morphometrics, the degree of cephalic maculation, and microsatellite variation. Results indicate a greater morphological and genetic similarity between populations from Cuba and the Yucatan peninsula with respect to those of Costa Rica. Based on our findings, we conclude that the origin of M. beecheii from Cuba is more likely the Yucatan peninsula (Mexico). We found evidence that isolation has not been large enough to result in a new genetic lineage.

Antifungal activity of honey from stingless bee Melipona beecheii against Candida albicans

At present there is a growing interest in the search of novel antifungals in natural products. Honey of Melipona beecheii, a stingless bee species, is used to treat a wide spectrum of diseases for centuries. Recently, M. beecheii honey is of great interest in Mexico and Central America due to its biological activities, especially antimicrobial effects. However, antifungal properties of Melipona honey remain poorly explored. The main purpose of this study was to establish the effects of M. beecheii honey treatment against Candida albicans, determining inhibition of growth and changes on cell wall. Agar diffusion assays and broth macrodilution method were employed to determine the antifungal effect of Melipona honey. Also, scanning electron microscopy was performed to study the effects on cell wall of C. albicans. As a result, we obtained that concentrations of 20% (v/v) and above inhibit the growth of C. albicans and induced dramatic changes in the structure and integrity of the cell wall. Remarkably, concentrations of 35% (v/v) caused fungicidal effect in vitro against this opportunistic pathogen. Therefore, this natural product may be an attractive source of new antifungal compounds, useful in treatments of recalcitrant infections.

Beekeeping from Antiquity Through the Middle Ages.

Beekeeping had its origins in honey hunting-the opportunistic stealing of honey from wild honey bee nests. True beekeeping began when humans started providing artificial cavities within which the bees could build comb for the queen to lay her eggs and the workers could process honey. By 2450 BCE, the Egyptians had developed sophisticated apiculture, and, within two millennia, beekeeping with horizontal hives had spread throughout the Mediterranean. During Europe's Middle Ages, honey and wax became important commodities for trade, and beekeeping in skep, log, box, and tree hives flourished to meet the demand. Other species of honey bees contributed to the development and spread of beekeeping in Asia beginning around 300 BCE. Meanwhile, beekeeping evolved independently in Mesoamerica with the stingless bee Melipona beecheii, as documented by archaeological finds and written accounts that survived Spanish conquest.

Waste Management in the Stingless Bee Melipona beecheii Bennett (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Waste management is important in insect societies because waste can be hazardous to adults, brood and food stores. The general organization of waste management and the influence of task partitioning, division of labor and age polyethism on waste processing were studied in three colonies of the tropical American stingless bee Melipona beecheii Bennett in Yucatan, Mexico. Waste generated in the colony (feces, old brood cells, cocoons, dead adults and brood) was collected by workers throughout the nest and taken to specific waste dumps within the nest. During the day, workers based at the waste dumps formed waste pellets, which they directly transferred in 93% of cases, to other workers who subsequently removed them from the nest. This is an example of task partitioning and is hypothesized to improve nest hygiene as has been found in leafcutting ants, Atta. To investigate division of labor and age polyethism we marked a cohort of 144 emerging workers. Workers forming waste pellets were on average 31.2±6.5 days old (±SD, N= 40, range of 18-45 days). The life span of M. beecheii workers was 49.0±14.0 days (N= 144). There was no difference in the life span of workers who formed (52.2±11.6 days, N= 40) or did not form (49.9±11.5 days, N= 97) waste pellets, suggesting that waste work did not increase mortality. Although waste was probably not hazardous to adults and brood, because the dumps are located outside the brood chamber, its presence inside the nests can attract phorid flies and predators, which can harm the colony.

Colony pollen reserves affect body size, sperm production and sexual development in males of the stingless bee Melipona beecheii

The production of male sexual offspring by social insect colonies is often strongly seasonal or resource-dependent. In stingless bees, males are produced in smaller numbers under conditions of low colony food reserves; whether such males are negatively affected in traits related to reproductive success is not known. We compared body size, sperm production and sexual maturity in Melipona beecheii males reared with experimentally supplemented or reduced pollen reserves, but with otherwise equal numbers of workers and equal quantities of honey reserves. We also studied the same traits in males collected from non-manipulated colonies with pollen reserves intermediate between the supplemented or reduced groups but with more workers and honey reserves. Males reared under experimentally reduced pollen reserves had significantly smaller bodies and lower sperm counts compared to those reared in colonies with experimentally supplemented pollen reserves. There was also a significantly positive relationship between the number of sperm and body size in males across all colony treatments. The maximum number of sperm in seminal vesicles was recorded 2 days later in males from colonies with reduced pollen compared to males from colonies with supplementary pollen. Males from non-manipulated colonies were intermediate in size, sperm count and speed of maturation. Our study documents for the first time the existence of large size variation in males of stingless bees that is related with the amount of pollen reserves in their natal colony. We conclude that a colony’s pollen reserves have a major impact on male body size, sperm production and speed of sexual maturity in this stingless bee, which may be the case in other social insects. Stingless bees are a good model system to study the balance between colony-level selection and individual-level selection on male sexually selected traits such as body size.

Morphometric and genetic analyses differentiate Mesoamerican populations of the endangered stingless bee Melipona beecheii (Hymenoptera: Meliponidae) and support their conservation as two separate units

Phenotypic and molecular differences were previously found in populations of the endangered stingless bee Melipona beecheii from two extremes of its geographic range. In this study we combine the use of morphometric and molecular tools, with the aim of investigating patterns of phenotypic and molecular variation in populations across Mesoamerica. Morphometric analyses showed that bees from Mexico have significantly smaller body size compared with populations from Central America, forming two separated groups. Bayesian analysis of the ITS1 spacer of the ribosomal gene also showed the existence of two clusters: one composed by the Mexican populations, and another in which the Central American ones assembled (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica). The combined results confirm the presence of two taxonomic units: one distributed in southern Mexico (ranging from the Yucatan peninsula to the north of Guatemala), and a Central American unit found from the southern part of Guatemala down to Costa Rica. These units should be considered separately under conservation programs and therefore, human assisted colony exchange between them should be avoided.

Geometric morphometrics of the wing as a tool for assigning genetic lineages and geographic origin to Melipona beecheii (Hymenoptera: Meliponini)

The stingless bee Melipona beecheii presents great variability and is considered a complex of species. In order to better understand this species complex, we need to evaluate its diversity and develop methods that allow geographic traceability of the populations. Here we present a fast, efficient, and inexpensive means to accomplish this using geometric morphometrics of wings. We collected samples from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica and we were able to correctly assign 87.1% of the colonies to their sampling sites and 92.4% to their haplotype. We propose that geometric morphometrics of the wing could be used as a first step analysis leaving the more expensive molecular analysis only to doubtful cases.

The effect of food reserves on the production of sexual offspring in the stingless bee Melipona beecheii (Apidae, Meliponini)

A long-term study on the production of sexual offspring in relation to food stores was conducted in the stingless bee Melipona beecheii. Firstly, the production of sexuals was followed during one year in 10 colonies kept under natural conditions. Of the brood produced, 22.9% were males, and of all female brood, 14.6% were queens. Secondly, we measured the effect of experimentally manipulating the amount of food stores. One set of colonies started with 1.5 kg of food reserves and were regularly fed with pollen and nectar while another set were subjected to reduced food reserves of 0.5 kg, and were not given any extra food. Throughout the study, colonies with no treatment had brood and adults of both sexes all year round with no evidence of their presence being linked to swarming. Colonies with reduced food stores produced fewer males (0.7%) and queens (10.5%) than untreated colonies or colonies with enlarged food stores. The production of sexuals in colonies with enlarged food stores (23.4% males, 13.5% queens) did not differ significantly from that under natural conditions.¶We conclude that in Melipona only colonies that have accumulated large food stores produce sexuals that contribute to the reproductive population. This may lead to marked differences in the amount of sexuals produced by different colonies, although at the population level sexuals may be present all year round.

The response of the stingless bee Melipona beecheii to experimental pollen stress, worker loss and different levels of information input

SUMMARYIn honey bees, both the allocation of foragers to pollen collecting and the behaviour of the pollen foragers depends on the colony's need for pollen, the mortality rate of foragers and the input of information regarding pollen availability in the field. The response of stingless bees to these factors is not known. Therefore, we studied the response of Melipona beecheii to experimental pollen deprivation, worker loss and controlled information input. Following pollen stress M. beecheii did not increase its forager force, but allocated more foragers to pollen foraging. There was an indication that individual foraging was intensified. During the first 10 days after the reduction of the pollen reserve, pollen availability in the field was low and pollen foraging almost stopped. The increase in pollen foraging occurred after these 10 days. M. beecheii did not respond to daily variation in worker mortality or experimentally induced 50% worker loss. Behaviour of pollen foragers was related to previous day foraging experience and not to colony foraging parameters such as the total number of pollen loads and the size of the work force. More foragers were allocated to pollen foraging when more information on pollen availability (returning successful foragers) came into the hive. This study indicates that in M. beecheii the allocation of foragers to pollen collecting depends both on the availability of pollen sources and on colony needs. Their response to pollen stress was similar to that reported for Apis mellifera, except for the more conservative response to low pollen availability in the environment. This conservative reaction may be typical for stingless bees, that due to the mass provisioning of brood cells, do not suffer immediate brood loss when pollen is lacking.

Nest and colony characteristics of log-hived Melipona beecheii (Apidae: Meliponinae)

SUMMARYThe log hives of 19 colonies of the stingless bee Melipona beecheii were opened and adult and brood populations, stored nectar and pollen, and other nest characteristics were recorded. Adult populations were found to be between 500 and 2500. The presence of queen pupae in the brood and the size of the brood nest were found to be positively correlated. Adult gynes and males were seldom observed. Brood populations were generally found to be two to four times the number of adult bees. Honey stores were often smaller than pollen stores, and only few colonies contained more than 1litre. The volume of the cavity of the hives was between 5 litres and 16 litres. Blackened and useless pollen was found in several nests, usually in the bigger ones. New for Central American species of Melipona is the description of radiating entrance structures. The ultimate function of several nest structures is discussed in relation to the typical stingless bee biology and ecology. Recommendations for hive design are made.