Caring for Pollinators - Bundesamt für Naturschutz

Fonseca, Saraiva, Gonçalves, de Jong, Alves, Menezes, Francoy Brazilian Pollinators
Initiative
How to obtain stingless bees nests in nature
Trapnests are widely used for solitary bees in several regions of the world. Beekeepers in
Brazil have been using plastic bottles to attract stingless bee swarms, with successful results
for some species, mainly Tetragonisca angustula and Plebeia spp. Using a standardized
methodology, we have been testing the practicability of the method and the influence of
cavity size to attract Meliponini swarms. The trapnests are well accepted in disturbed areas
and attracted 5 Meliponini species in one of the experiments. Out of 200 groups of trapnests,
each group containing four plastic bottles of different volumes, we collected 38 nests of
stingless bees during one year. A special tool for field data acquisition (trap nest scouter
software on a pocket PC) was developed to facilitate the field work. Experiments are in
progress to test different materials for the trapnests and their efficiency in various
environments.
Queen production in stingless bees in vitro
For Meliponini bees we highlight the importance of developing in vitro techniques for rearing
queens, fertilization under controlled conditions and development of small colonies into
normal colonies. In most stingless bee species any female larva can become a queen if a
large quantity of larval food is provided. The technique for rearing in vitro queens has been
improved in the last few years and we have already obtained 93% of success with
Scaptotrigona depilis. We have successfully tested the technique for two other species until
now (Nannotrigona testaceicornis and Plebeia droryana), and other researchers have had
success with Tetragonisca angustula and Frieseomelitta varia. Hypothetically, it would be
possible to use this technique for any stingless bee species, except for Melipona genera.
Although we have already demonstrated the viability of these queens for Nannotrigona
testaceicornis (publication in preparation), other experiments are in progress to compare in
vitro queens with natural queens. Fertilization under controlled conditions and development
of small colonies into normal colonies are the next steps for this project. The success of this
project would make many important improvements in Meliponiculture possible, such as
colonies multiplication on a large scale and selection for more productive colonies.
Africanized honey bees
Bees to be used in Pollination
Beekeeping in Brazil has grown considerably since the introduction of the African honey bee,
Apis mellifera scutellata, in 1956, as beekeepers learned to work with the polyhybrid
Africanized honey bee (AHB), a product of crosses between the African bee and the
previously introduced European honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica, Apis mellifera mellifera,
etc.). The introduction of the African bee to Brazil is the event responsible for the expressive
change and development of beekeeping since its beginnings in this country in 1839; today
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