Stingless Bee Ecology and Conservation

Stingless bees (tribe Meliponini) are keystone pollinators across tropical and subtropical regions, sustaining both wild plant diversity and agricultural productivity. With over 600 described species, they exhibit a wide range of nesting strategies, from cavity dwellers in tree hollows to ground-nesting aggregates, and display sophisticated social organisation without a functional sting. Their foraging behaviour shapes plant reproduction and influences microbial dispersal, while nest architecture and colony dynamics reflect long evolutionary histories in forested landscapes. Global threats—including habitat fragmentation, agrochemical exposure, invasive species and climate change—have driven local declines, prompting integrated conservation efforts that combine habitat restoration, sustainable meliponiculture and community engagement. Effective management hinges on understanding species-specific ecology, protecting floral resources at multiple scales and fostering traditional and scientific knowledge exchange.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have applied pollen and honey DNA metabarcoding to analyse foraging spectra of multiple stingless bee species, uncovering interactions with dozens of plant taxa across diverse tropical habitats. This high-resolution approach has revealed preferences for dominant floral families and demonstrated that bees frequently travel beyond immediate forest edges to access canopy resources. These insights underscore the importance of preserving continuous floral corridors and maintaining plant community heterogeneity to support colony nutrition and resilience.

Research from all publishers

An integrative review in Annual Review of Entomology synthesised ecological diversification in Meliponini, highlighting mutualistic plant–bee partnerships, recruitment strategies and microbial symbioses that underpin ecosystem services. A thematic analysis in Apidologie examined global threats to stingless bees, documenting population declines linked to land-use change, pesticide exposure and competition with exotic pollinators, and calling for policy frameworks to mitigate these pressures. Ethnobiological research in Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine documented meliponiculture practices among Bolivian women, revealing how traditional training and hive management techniques enhance colony health, diversify product use and contribute to rural livelihoods.

Stingless Bee Ecology and Conservation publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in stingless bee ecology and conservation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Meliponiculture: the practice of rearing and managing stingless bee colonies for pollination services and hive products such as honey, pollen and wax.

Pollen DNA metabarcoding: a molecular technique that identifies multiple plant species in mixed pollen or honey samples through high-throughput DNA sequencing.

Mutualism: a symbiotic interaction between two species in which both partners derive a benefit, as seen between stingless bees and many flowering plants.

Floral visitation: the act of a pollinator visiting flowers to collect nectar or pollen, directly affecting plant pollination and reproduction.

Habitat fragmentation: the division of continuous natural landscapes into smaller, isolated patches, which can restrict bee movement and gene flow.

References

1. Contrasting patterns of foraging behavior in neotropical stingless bees using pollen and honey metabarcoding. Scientific Reports (2023).
2. Stingless bees: uses and management by meliponiculturist women in the Chaco region of Bolivia. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2023).
3. Stingless Bee (Apidae: Apinae: Meliponini) Ecology. Annual Review of Entomology (2022).
4. The stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini): a review of the current threats to their survival. Apidologie (2022).