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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