Stingless beekeeping: A growing opportunity

Stingless bees always spark an interest during conversations. A honey producing bee which does not sting – what could be better!

Bees for Development has started work with these incredible bees in partnership with Amazon Research Internacional. You can read more about the work and about Amazon Research Internacional here.

Stingless bees on a honey pot.

What are stingless bees?

Stingless bees are closely related to Apis mellifera honey bees, as they are all part of the family Apidae. However stingless bees belong to the tribe Meliponini while honey bees belong to tribe Apini.

There are approximately 600 known species worldwide, living in tropical and subtropical regions and ranging in size from 2 mm to 15 mm. Eusocial like honey bees, they live in much smaller colonies of a few hundred to a few thousand workers.

Stingless bees have a unique nest structure, quite different from Apis mellifera. They build comb from a mixture of wax and plant resin. Comb is often in layers, surrounded by a cerumen layer, also made of plant resin and wax. Resources such as honey and pollen are stored in small pots around the brood. Not all stingless bee species produce honey and only a few produce large enough quantities for people to harvest.

Stingless bees typically nest in tree cavities or in the ground, and build entrance tunnels to protect the colony, made from plant resins, mud, and wax.

A ground nesting stingless bee colony with the brood comb exposed.

The tube entrance to a stingless bee colony. This entrance was 44 cm in length.

Stingless bee honey pots.

How do stingless bees support livelihoods?

Only a few stingless bee species are kept by beekeepers, producing small amounts of honey and propolis. Species kept by beekeepers are often the most common, easiest to access, least defensive, or produce the highest quantity of honey. The practice of keeping stingless bees is called Meliponiculture.

Stingless beekeepers use gourds, woven hives, wood boxes, etc. for stingless bee nest sites. Any container works as long as the honey pots can be accessed without destroying brood comb. The honey is extracted from the honey pots by piercing and sucking the honey from the pots with a syringe or a small suction pump.

For many families, stingless bee honey is a traditional medicine, often kept for home consumption. Some beekeepers sell honey and propolis locally or at expanding national markets. For example, one stingless beekeeper from northern Peru sells honey locally, receives tours from cruise ships, and sells stingless bee boxes, earning around $600 a month. There is also a growing interest in stingless bee honey globally, providing opportunities for commercialisation.

Stingless bee honey is not recognised as “honey”, as the international codex is based off Apis mellifera honey which has very different properties. In response, some countries have developed stingless bee honey standards, allowing it to be sold in formal markets as honey.

A stingless bee hive.

Using a syringe to remove stingless bee honey from a pot.

Are there other benefits from keeping stingless bees?

Stingless bees are keystone species in many tropical and subtropical environments. They provide important pollination services for native plants and agriculture crops.

Stingless bees also have cultural significance for many indigenous people living in protected forest areas. They have the potential to provide a non-extractive income from the at-risk forests, while providing a valuable income closely connected to indigenous culture.

Ashaninka people learning about stingless beekeeping in Communal Reserve Ashaninka.

Bees for Development’s work

For these reasons, we are supporting work with over 200 indigenous people across three regions of Peru and expanding stingless bee work with the Batwa people in Uganda. You can read more about our work in Peru here.

Besides income, the training has built the capacity of local indigenous leaders. Miceala, a woman Ashaninka leader and stingless beekeeper stated,

“Stingless beekeeping has given me strength as a leader. I used to be shy but now I talk to everyone.”

Miceala envisions communities working together to gain more income through beekeeping.

You can support our work with stingless beekeepers by making either a one off or a regular donation – just click the button below:

Miceala inspecting a newly transferred stingless bee colony.