Meliponiculture
[1] In meliponiculture, the hives can be organized in meliponary, places with suitable conditions of temperature, solar orientation, humidity, and food supply (flowers and resins).
Finally, it is also possible to use meliponines colonies to educate children about the environment, since most of these insects do not behave aggressively or harm human beings.
[5][6][7][8] Indigenous peoples and traditional communities already raised stingless bees and used their honey for various health treatments (such as cataracts), for food and subsistence.
[5][6] Meliponiculture is economically, environmentally, and socially important in the various niches and regions where bees occur, as it does not require intensive care or high investment in the creation of a meliponary.
Thus, the more limited production results in an exclusive and valued offer, with quantities ranging from 100 ml to three or four liters of honey being obtained from a single hive.
In several Latin American countries, except for Chile, there is evidence of the relationship between native peoples and these insects, both through extractive exploitation and rudimentary breeding techniques.
[8] In Central America, descendants of the Mayan and Aztec civilizations maintain a significant relationship with stingless bees, going beyond food use.
[8] All species of meliponas are eusocial, i.e. they have a work structure divided into castes, where the workers (female bees) carry out most of the activities to support the swarm, such as building and maintaining the brood discs/bunches, collecting and processing food, cleaning and protecting the colony and caring for the young.
In 2004, the National Environment Council (CONAMA) published a resolution highlighting the importance of native wild bees to the Brazilian ecosystem.
[22][23] These bees, their nests, and breeding grounds are considered common goods, as provided for in the Federal Constitution of Brazil.
The document recognizes the economic relevance of local and regional meliponiculture, as well as the importance of bees in the stability of ecosystems and the sustainability of agriculture.
This means that the extraction and exploitation of natural beehives are prohibited, except in the case of licensed undertakings that incur the deforestation of the area.
[22] Nogueira-Neto has a section in his book Vida e Criação de Abelhas Indígenas sem Ferrão (English: Life and Breeding of Indigenous Stingless Bees) that provides information on the removal of natural nests.
The practice of removing natural nests for rational breeding without any reason that endangers the target colony is not permitted under Brazilian law.
[25] Suggestions for materials and tutorials for making these devices can be found in books, such as the Manual Tecnológico de Aproveitamento Integral dos Produtos das Abelhas Nativas sem Ferrão (English: Technological Manual for the Integral Use of the Products of Native Stingless Bees),[26] or on YouTube channels[27][28][29] specialized in meliponiculture.
The most common trap nests are made with 1.5 to 5 liter pet bottles soaked inside with an attractive liquid (propolis, resins, geopropolis, and cerumen diluted in alcohol) and wrapped with cardboard or newspaper and black plastic, imitating the hollow interior of trees.
The mature brood contains bees about to be born, allowing the workers to recover more quickly in the new box.
This method makes it possible to obtain two colonies from the division of a single one in just a few minutes, resulting in an accelerated recovery of the swarm and a lower incidence of post-division pests.
The chokers provide lateral support to the upper part, eliminating the need to use your hands to divide the feed pots that are around the brood disks.
The sequence of figures illustrates the steps involved in dividing a colony of uruçu-boca-de-renda (M. seminigra), highlighting the use of the minimum disturbance method.
Examples of other unremarkable enemies are: moths, barbers, beetles, parasitoid wasps, spiders, mites, lizards and geckos.
[34] Phorids are small flies of the genus Pseudohypocrea (order Diptera, family Phoridae) that infiltrate the hive and lay their eggs in the open jars of pollen and honey.
[37] Ants are attracted to the bee colony by the smell of food, making careful handling of boxes and avoiding exposure of pollen and honey pots crucial.
[40][41] The literature indicates that some other species may show similar habits of plundering and invasion, such as: turuçu (M. fuliginosa), caga-fogo (O. tataira), guaxupé (Trigona hyalinata), arapuá (T. spinipes), borá (Tetragona clavipes).
