Stingless bees
| Stingless bees | ||||||||||||
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Trigona spinipes |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Meliponini | ||||||||||||
| Lepeletier , 1836 | ||||||||||||
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Austroplebeia |
The stingless (honey) bees (Meliponini) form a tribe of bees with around 370 species within the basket collectors . They belong to the highly social species and, along with honey bees, are the only bees that form permanent colonies that inhabit their nests for several generations. Some species are used economically for honey production.
distribution
The distribution is pantropical, which means that they are represented in all tropical and some subtropical regions of the world. They occur particularly richly in species in Central and South America, in addition in Africa up to the 28th southern parallel, in South Asia and Australia up to the 35th parallel. To the east their distribution extends to the Solomon Islands .
particularities
morphology
Stingless bees have different defense mechanisms. You defend yourself z. B. by bites or by secreting corrosive liquids. The Meliponini belong together with the honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.), magnificent bees (Euglossini) and bumblebees (Bombini) to the basket collectors (corbiculaten Apidae).
Way of life
Similar to solitary bees , food is only deposited once together with an egg in a cell and the cell is then closed. A refeeding, as it z. B. takes place in the honey bee , is omitted.
The way to a rich source of food is not indicated with a dance, but with scented marks. In the case of the Meliponini, the trajectories to food sources are marked by secretions from the labial glands (and not, as originally assumed, from the mandibular glands).
Australian species
Of the Australian wild bees, 14 species are stingless. These species have a variety of names such as: B. Australian native honey bees , native bees , sugar-bag bees or sweet bees .
The Australian stingless species all look very similar. They are small, black with hairy hind legs used to carry pollen and nectar . For this reason, they are often confused with bumblebees. The two most common species are Tetragonula carbonaria (formerly: Trigona carbonaria ) and Austroplebeia australis , the latter being smaller and less active. Both species inhabit the Brisbane area . Because they are not dangerous to humans, they are often found in the gardens of the suburbs.
Honey production in Australia
Like the European honey bee ( Apis mellifera ), which provides most of the commercial honey production, the stingless bees have an enlarged part of their rear legs to carry pollen. These baskets ( corbiculae ) are filled with pollen. Nectar is also collected, which is stored in an extension of the intestine ( goiter ). In the cane, the nectar drops are processed into honey in the mouth by removing water. The stingless bees store the honey in cells made of plant resin. When in contact with the resin, it takes on a special aroma. In the warm areas of Australia, stingless bees are used for a small production of honey. In Queensland and northern New South Wales , these bees produce more honey than they need for their own needs. Some beekeepers serve a niche market and successfully keep stingless bees in boxes.
Special methods have been developed to obtain a usable amount of honey from these bees. Because of the structure of the beehives, this honey is difficult to obtain. For honey production, these bees have to be kept in special boxes that make these honey stores accessible without destroying the nest structure. In contrast to the common honey bees, which can produce 75 kilograms of honey per colony per year, stingless bees produce less than one kilogram of honey per year. This honey has a characteristic bush taste, which is characterized by sweetness and acidity with a hint of lime. This taste comes from the vegetable resins used by the bees to build the hives and honey pots and varies depending on the flowers and trees visited.
pollination
Australian farmers rely on European honey bees to pollinate crops. However, for some plants, native bees are better pollinators. Stingless bees have been shown to be suitable pollinators of macadamia and mango . But they also pollinate crops such as. B. strawberry , watermelon , citrus fruits , avocado or lychee . According to studies by the University of Western Sydney, these bees are e.g. B. suitable for use in greenhouses.
South American species
The majority of native eusocial bees in Central and South America are stingless bees. Few of these bees produce enough honey to be interesting for beekeeping . These bees are threatened with extinction due to deforestation , changes in agricultural practices, particularly insecticides and the introduction of the Africanized honey bee .
Mayan stingless bees in Central America
The Maya intensively cultivated the stingless bees Melipona beecheii and Melipona yucatanica for honey production. The traditional Mayan name for Melipona beecheii is Xunan Kab , which literally means royal lady . These bees were a symbol of the bee god Ah Muzen Cab (known from Codex Madrid ) and were the subject of religious ceremonies . Families had beehives on their home.
The bees can also defend themselves stinglessly with bites that are similar to a mosquito bite. Traditionally, a wild beehive was cultivated. To do this, the branch was cut around the beehive so that it could be transported. The branch was then closed with wood or clay at both ends and sealed with clay. This prevented the bees from mixing their brood , pollen and honey in the comb. The brood is in the middle of the stick and the honey is stored in vessels at the ends of the stick. A replaceable jar at these ends allowed easy access to the honey without destroying the stick. With the right care, such beehives can be used sustainably for many years and even generations. In archaeological excavations of Mesoamerica , stone disks were found, which are seen as closures of beehives.
Use by humans
Balche , an alcoholic beverage such as Met , is made from fermented honey and the bark of the Balche -tree ( Lonchocarpus violaceus made). The drink has entheogenic properties, enables mystical experiences in ritual practices and has been used as medicine. The hallucinogenic effect comes from the balché tree or from the honey from the balché flowers. Toxic and hallucinogenic substances can be found in collected honey and pollen from certain types of plants. Wax pouring was also practiced by the Maya. Melipona wax is soft and easy to use, especially in areas with high humidity.
beekeeping
The number of Melipona beekeepers is declining because of the productive and easily propagated Africanized honeybees ( Apis mellifera ). The Melipona beekeepers are mostly old people whose knowledge is no longer passed on. Of several thousand such beekeepers in the 1980s, there were only 70 left in 2004. On the other hand, there are plants that are not visited by the Africanized honeybees, such as B. different types of trees and bushes. The pollination of these plants is dependent on the stingless bees. There is therefore a decline in native flora in areas where the stingless bees have been replaced by the Africanized honeybees. There is an effort to maintain this knowledge.
African species
The honey of stingless bees is touted as a medicine in many African societies.
Species of stingless bees that produce honey
- Austroplebia spp.
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Trigona spp.
- T. carbonaria
- T. hockingsii
- T. iridipennis
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Melipona genus
- M. beecheii
- M. costaricensis
- M. yucatanica
- M. panamica
- M. fasciata
- M. marginata
- M. compressipes
- M. fuliginosa
- M. favosa
literature
- A. Kaestner: Volume I Invertebrates - V Part Insecta . Holger. H. Dathe, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8274-0930-6 .
- Charles D. Michener: The Bees of the World . The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2000, ISBN 0-8018-6133-0 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Behavioral studies on the use of foraging and the foraging behavior of bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea), Dissertation 2005, p. 46
- ↑ DLP Schorkopf, M. Hrncir, S. Mateus, R. Zucchi, VM Schmidt, FG Barth: Mandibular gland secretions of meliponine worker bees: further evidence for their role in interspecific and intraspecific defense and aggression and against their role in food source signaling . In: Journal of Experimental Biology. 212, 2009, pp. 1153-1162, doi : 10.1242 / jeb.021113 .
- ↑ PDF at jeb.biologists.org ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Stingless bees do not dance
- ↑ a b Stingless bee rescue . May 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- ↑ Aussie Bee, Issue 10 ( Memento of August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Bee World ( Memento of May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), June 2005 edition
