Bees as pollinators in Brazil - USP

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the services of pollinators were available. This
increase represents an extra income of
US$1860.55 per ha per year. Ricketts, et al.,
(2004), showed that pollinating services from
two small fragments (46 and 111 ha) could be
translated into ~US$60,000 per year for one
Costa Rica farm.
All these results stressed the importance
of conserving forest fragments and nesting
places for social and solitary bee species (Klein,
et al., 2003c, Ricketts, et al., 2004), which can
act as service-providing units (Luck, et al.,
2003) for coffee pollination. The costs of
maintaining conservation areas are far exceeded
by the economic benefits that the service of
pollinators brings for agriculture. In this way,
conserving natural areas nearby coffee farms
can be translated into advantages for biodiversity
and agriculture (Allen-Wardell, et al., 1998,
Ricketts, et al., 2004).
Stingless bees management practices
for use in agriculture
Agricultural intensification worldwide includes
a decline in the proportion of natural habitat,
an increase in pesticide usage, a decrease of
floral resource on farm sites, as well as larger
field sizes, crop monocultures, intensive soil
and water usages and the use of synthetic fertilizers.
Of course, the sustainability of agriculture
following these patterns of land use is
under concern by 21 Agenda for Agriculture.
Best management practices in agriculture
for sustainable use and conservation of pollinators
are focused in recent literature, and
mainly by several authors that study pollinators’
conservation. This means to carry on pesticides
and their use in the crops; gene flow
studies; environmental friendly agricultural
practices, including land preparation, in order
to keep nests of solitary bees that occur in the
soil; agricultural area and maintenance of their
borders with native vegetation, or hedges that
can keep pollinators; to decrease herbicides
use in agricultural crops, that helps the foraging
supply for pollinators and crop attractiveness
for them, in larger areas.
Although the already identified importance
of pollinators in agriculture (see also
weevils for oil palm; bumble bees for tomatoes,
among others; solitary bees for apple,
pears and alfalfa, for instance; stingless bees
for strawberry, guarana, assai, coffee, among
several other crops; honey bees for several
crops) is well known, until now their use is not
remarkable in undeveloped countries.
However, this situation will change very soon,
because of new initiatives concerning pollinators
use in crops (for instance, the Brazilian
Pollinators Initiative) as well as from successful
crops competing in world market, resulting
from the pollinators use in greenhouses, for
instance. Developed countries are working
with pollinators’ shortage, although only a
small number of them (a dozen, according to
Kremen, 2004) are successful bred for agricultural
use. If they are not available nearby due
to the intensive agricultural patterns using
large areas, they are bought from biotech
companies that breed them successfully. These
companies are multinational and have the
technology of large scale breeding. The introduction
of alien pollinators with defined
breeding techniques is also undesirable, and
studies of ecological impact are asked in
importation process. This stimulates the breading
of native pollinators for the same service in
countries with capacity building in pollination
area. In many tropical and subtropical areas of
the world, a new scenario opens focusing stingless
bees use as crop pollinators (Macias, et
al., 2001; Cunningham, et al., 2002). An infant
industry arises with stingless bees breeding in
Australia (Heard & Dollin, 2000) and Brazil
(Rosso, et al., 2001), growing in the world
(Cortopassi-Laurino, et al., 2006).