STINGLESS BEES

Introduction

Also called as dammer bees Bee keeping with stingless bees is known Meliponiculture 2 important genera: Trigona and Melipona Trigona genera consists 130 species and Melipona have 50 species Stingless bees colonies are perennial and usually consist of 100s or 1000s of workers They can be domesticated and used for production of honey and wax Stingless bees have mass provisional larval feeding

DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION

Stingless bees inhabit and subtropical parts of the worldAccording to Michener (2000) there are about 36 genera

and several hundred species Atsalek et al (2005) reported that 500 species are recorded mostly in tropical countries, most common genera were Trigona, Meliponula, Dectylurina, Lestrimelitta etc., Trigona is extensive genera in tribe meliponini in tropical regions of all continents

Taxonomic classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Arthropoda

Class Insecta

Order Hymenoptera

Sub order Apocrita

Super family Apoidea

Family Apidae

Sub family Apinae

Tribe Meliponini

Paratigona sp.

Trigona sp. Melipona sp.

Stingless bees True honey bees

• oldest known fossil: Trigona prisca

(about 96 to 74 M years ago)

• true Apis type was first discovered

in Lower Miocene ( 22 to 25 MYA)

• found in tropical and sub tropical

regions

• found in almost all regions of the

world

• they do not sting(highly reduced)

but defend by biting if disturbed.

• sting is well developed, defend by

stinging if disturbed

• Body size is smaller • Bigger than stingless bees

• Honey yield is less • Honey yield is more

• Trigona colony has 100,000 workers • Apis has about 60,000 workers

• Swarming and absconding behavior

is less because there are >2 queens

per colony

• Swarming and absconding are

common phenomenon

• tolerant to pests and diseases:

because of their smaller size and use

of propolis which has germicidal and

pest repellant

• susceptible to pests and diseases

NEST BIOLOGY

Common nesting sites of stingless bees are tree cavities, cracks and crevices in old walls or stone walls

Trigona carbonaria - inside hollows in trees or wooden pillars of houses

Trigona laevicepes - tree cavitiesTrigona gribodei - tree trunks and cavities

T. oyuni and T. moorei – ant nestsT. Gribodei – termite mound

Nest consists: external tube, internal tunnel, resin dumps,waste dumps, food pots for storing pollen and honey, broodpots and nest envelops like involucrum and batumen. Entrance tube has made out of cerumen

Nest of Melipona

FOOD POTS:

• Present either above, below or at both sides of the brood area• Built one above other or side by side when sealed• Pollen pots were built closer to the entrance• Honey pots in outer parts of the nest but often the cluster will contain both honey and pollen pots

BROOD CELLS:• Arrange in clusters and more crowded• Distinct colour variation on their age• Newly constructed: brownish• Straw coloured with as age advances• Brood cells are vertically elongated and oriented• Brood cells of worker and drone are similar in size but queen cells are larger

BEHAVIOUR: Stingless bees are active all round the year, less active in cooler weathers, even some species undergo diapause Blum et al (1984) reported the few genera (genus Oxytrigonatataria, Fire bee) produces a secretion from its extensively developed mandibular gland that produces lesions when come in contact with human skin

BIOLOGY:• Queen main ovipositioning function• Workers regulate cell construction and discharge of larval food• Workers of 9 to 13 days are more active in provisioning of brood cells• 5-6 workers fill up the cell with larval food • After mass provisioning, queen lays egg• 4-5 secs after egg laying, one worker closes that cell with wax in about 2.5 to 3 minutes

Domicile (Nest biology)Nests are notable points of bee activity, often spectacular

examples of animal architecture, nesting biology is a highly visible aspect of stingless bee behavior(Michener, 1974).

Colonies are active every day and therefore have sustained impact among the biota (Roubik, 1989; Hansell, 1993).

The individual species are recognizable from nest entrances and often their particular site – much obvious variety exists.

Inside the nest, there are different shapes and arrangements of brood cells and food storage containers.

Honey and pollen are stored in separate ‘pots’.

Stored nectar or ripened honey are in nest cavity extremes (for storage during heavy flowering periods), while pollen and some honey surround the brood area.

Storage pots of stingless bee

Nest of stingless bee

Nest structures

Stages Trigona moorei Trigona itama

Egg (days) 5.5 4.20

Larval(days) 10 10.4

Pupa(days) 31 31.9

Total (days) 46.5 46.5

LIFE STAGES OF STINGLESS BEES

FORAGING BEHAVIOUR:• Foraging will optimum early in morning i.e., in T. fulviventris at 0700 hr @20

departures/min which declined by 1000 hr @ 20 departures/min• In early morning 50% of bees were returning with pollen• Areas and amounts of pollen and nectar collected by honey bees is 10 times more than stingless bees

Stages Tasks Days

1 Emergence and rest 1

2 Incubation of brood, work the wax into the

cells, then the entire nest

2 to 11

3 Construction, filling and capping of cells,

feeding of young adults and queen, cleaning

the nest, incubating

12 to 21

4 Feeding the queen and young adults and

cleaning the nests, development cerumen

22 to 26

5 Work of cerumen, nest building and involucrum

, recieving nectar, storing food

27 to 35

6 Transition to foraging

7 Foraging and track marking (fragrant) 36 to death

[43 to 54 in

Scaptotrigona

postica]

Communication:Mainly by 2 ways a) Signals

b) Cues

• Signals have specific role in communication, they are nothing but pheromones.• Cues are incidental features present in environment. They have not been moulded by natural selection to carry a specific meaning for intended receivers.

Pheromones

ReleaserInduces a change in behaviour

PrimerInduces development process

The role of semio-chemicals in foraging ecology of stingless bees divides the main volatile compounds in the four categories:1. Food odours 2. Food source marking volatiles 3. Trail pheromones4. The chemicals used by robber bees and casual theives

during nest plundering

Food odours: Flower volatiles or compounds emanating from carcasses are used by many bees to detect and orient towards the food sources. Plays important role in:a) Flower constancy of individual b) Recruitment of fellow workers within nest.

Villa and Weiss (1990) trained bees Tetragonisca angustulawere exposed to identically coloured feeders. The experimentresults that previously foraged feeder significantly attracted aspresumably chemical marks left on them.

Jostling: Foragers bump into other bees crossing their pathswhen running around and changing the direction in an irregularway well known in Melipona sp. produces air borne sound even man can hear

Hrneir et al (2000)

Nest plundering: plundering the food reserves from other species of stingless bees or sometimes true bees• Lestrimelitta sp. is highly specialized this method of food acquisition, are highly cleptobiotic• invades nests of Melipona, Paratrigona and Tetragonisca or hives of Apis mellifera

Jarau er al (2010)• attacked nests emit strong and lemon like odour. This is due to secretion of stereisomers of citral i.e., geranial and neral in ratio of 2:1

WHY SHOULD WE USE STINGLESS BEES FOR POLLINATION?

Features:o Better pollinationo Survival in tropics o Eco friendlyo Conservationo Limited foraging distance1. Green house pollination 2. Owner’s benefit-maximum

CROPS FOR WHICH STINGLESS BEES POLLINATION IS VALUABLE

Common name Family

Mango Anacardiaceae

Strawberry Rosaceae

Coconut Arecaceae

Chow chow Cucurbitaceae

Carambola Oxalidaceae

Lab lab Papilionaceae

Goose berry Euphorbiaceae

Heard et al (1999)

Flower preference: Generalist flower visitors Small flowersDense inflorescence Shorter corolla tube Wider corolla tube

Colony requirement

For most crops, 15 to 20 colonies per hectare are usually recommended for effective pollination. However, if natural pollinators are scarce, additional hives may be necessary.

Treatments Initial fruit/ 20 panicles

Fruit drop/ 20panicles

Fruits harvested/20 panicles

Fruit weight (g)

TSS (%)

Trigonairidipennis

67.5 36.25 31.25 580.1 25.04

Apis florea 52.42 23.32 29.1 480.23 24.02

Apis cerana 44.4 18.2 26.2 390.17 24.50

Open pollination 58.2 32.3 26.5 475.25 24.1

Mean 55.63 27.51 28.26 481.43 24.39

EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT POLLINATION MODES ON FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY OF MANGO

Percentage of malformed Sweet pepper (Restricted pollination)

Treatments Fruits (no.) Malformed fruits (%)

Hand cross pollination 32 13

Pollination by Melipona subnitida 59 17

Hand self pollination 33 45

Self pollination 50 48

Treatments Fruits (no.) Fruit set

No. (%)

Hand cross pollination 50 41 82

Pollination by Melipona subnitida 60 42 70

Hand self pollination 66 45 68

Self pollination 50 37 74

Percentage of fruit set in Sweet pepper (Restricted pollination)

Cruz (2004)

Effect of stingless bee pollination on Quantitative yield parameters of sunflower

Treatments No. Of filled

seeds/head

No.Unfilled seeds/ head

Totalno. Of seeds

Percent seed set

1000seed

wt.(g)

Yield/

m2Oil

content

Crops caged and enclosed with stingless bees

469.2 269.6 776.8 59.22 61.5 380.74 38.06

Crops caged for avoiding pollinators

29.4 634.4 666.8 4.91 55.5 11.73 NT

Open pollination 638.4 45.20 679.8 93.93 61.0 917.3 36.57

Roopa (2002)

Pollination in white clover in green house conditions

Treatments Average weight of flower head (g)

Yield weight/0.75 m2 (g)

Trigona carbonaria 4.7 4.0

Scaptatrigona bipunctata 7.1 7.9

Bombus terrestria 16.6 19.4

Apis mellifera 14.2 17.0

Two colonies of each left in 0.2 ha area of green house conditions

Reasons for poor performance Since green house (0.2ha) was too spacious for stingless bees may not be actually habituated yetMost gathered around ceiling facing sun and causing wear and tearing of colony

STRENGTH OF STINGLESS BEES IN POLLINATION

Floral consistency Domestication Perennial colonies Large foods reserves are stored in nests Polylecty and adoptibility Forager recruitment

How to get best pollination by the stingless bees Suitable crops Pollination of non crop species Buzz pollination Important of natural vegetation Response to weather Flight activity of colonies Flight range Pesticides

ADVANTAGES OF STINGLESS BEES FOR CROP POLLINATION

Harmless Native speciesThrive in tropical climates Glass house pollinationPest and disease lessSwarms don’t move far away

ADVANTAGES TO FARMERS

Safety Medicinal honeyRestricted foraging Easy managementEasy transportationLow cost technologyEconomical

Nesting siteColony availabilityMeliponicultureSmall colony sizeSlow growth rateTerritoriality

DISADVANTAGES TO FARMERS

FUTURE THRUST

Species identityEffective pollinating species Documentation of crops benefited Multiplication technologyManagement for pollination

Summary:

Stingless bees are generalist flower visitors Pollination by stingless bees in sunflower recorded a yield/m2 of 380.74g, in Niger 18.50g and in Chow chow fruit set was 62.66% Under foraging and pollination behaviour in onion crop pollinated by stingless bees recorded maximum fruits/umbel i.e., 202When honey samples from Trigona iridipennis have been analyzed. Moringa oleifera was the crop which is maximum benefited i.e., 33% followed by Scaptatrigona emerginatus 27% Under the study of pollination efficiency of stingless bees Meliponasubnitida on green house pepper, it recorded a fruit set of 70% Stingless bees can be used as pollinators in greenhouse conditions because of their adoptability and horizontal flight Flight range of stingless bees Melipona scutellaris is maximum i.e., 2800m followed by Melipona bicolor which indicates that these are effective pollinators

Conclusion:• crop pollinators both as wild and managed pollinators• suitable social life for pollination • challenge to their widespread are

a) lack of availability of large no. Of hives b) dearth of knowledge of about pollination and

pollinators of stingless bees