Diversity of meliponini in Mexico and useful species.
Abstract
Currently, stingless bees' populations are declining due to environmental degradation. In this context, the authors have developed a research project in the central-western region of Mexico with the goal to generate strategies for conservation and sustainable management of stingless bees. The chapter aims to present the process of this investigation and its main results in terms of a) local knowledge and management strategies of stingless bees, and b) the social process of technological appropriation of meliponiculture by beekeepers. We recognized specific knowledge on the biology and ecology of stingless bees that result in a system for identifying species and management strategies of wild populations of these bees based on the extraction of nests. The implementation of an innovative productive activity based on the principles of meliponiculture and current techniques has been well received by producers, which has led to the formation of the Meliponicultores Michoacanos del Balsas Association, which grows five species of stingless bees. The research suggests that conservation associated with the use of bees (integral meliponiculture) can be enhanced in the region. Faced with the loss of biodiversity and environmental crisis, it is essential to maintain and enhance local knowledge of stingless bees and management practices. This represents an alternative to develop management schemes that allow the raising and breeding of these bees, while its products are obtained.
Keywords
- stingless bees
- meliponiculture
- Balsas River Basin
- Michoacán
- México
1. Introduction
Bees represent one of the most important functional pollinator groups for terrestrial ecosystems [1, 2]. It is estimated that nearly 73% of cultivated vegetation species and more than 75% of the world's total vegetation is pollinized by bees [1, 3, 4]. However, in spite of the importance of this group of organisms, there is clear evidence of their population decline, putting at grave risk the pollination services they provide [5] as well as ecosystem and agrecosystem maintenance [6, 7]. This has profound ecological and economic implications. Some of the more relevant causes of this pollination crisis are forest loss and fragmentation, the use of agrochemicals, bee pathogens, invasive species, and climate change, among others [1, 5, 8–18]. In the particular case of stingless bees, the extraction of wild nests and habitat alteration have been cited as primary causes of population deterioration for this group [19].
There are approximately 20,000 species of bees [20] of which
2. Stingless bee diversity in Mexico
Stingless bees form part of the order
Species1 | Local name | Manag ement |
Region of managed species |
Reference (for useful species) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
||||
2 |
||||
3 (Cockerell, 1912) |
E’hol, Tajbak | ( |
Peninsula de Yucatán |
[25] |
4 (Cresson, 1878) |
Sak-Xic’/ Abeja zopilota |
( |
Península de Yucatán, Sierra de Manantlán Jalisco, Cuenca del Balsas Michoacán |
[19, 25, 26] |
5 (Strand, 1919) |
Colmena de tierra | ( |
Cuenca del Balsas Michoacán |
[19] |
6 (Ayala, 1999) |
Abeja limoncilla | ( |
Cuenca del Balsas Michoacán |
[19] |
7 (Ayala, 1999) |
Niitkib, Limón kab Limoncillo |
Península de Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas |
[25, 27] | |
8 (Bennett, 1831) |
Xunaan-Kab / Abeja real/Ajau-chab |
( |
Península de Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz |
[19, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30] |
9 (Ayala, 1999) |
Colmena real | ( |
Volcán Colima | [31] |
10 (Latreille, 1811) |
Colmena real | ( |
Cuenca Balsas Michoacán, Sierra Atoyac Guerrero |
[19, 32, 33] |
11 (Ayala, 1999) |
( |
Cuenca Balsas Michoacán |
[31] | |
12 (Cockerell, 1912) |
Abeja real roja | ( |
Soconusco Chiapas |
[27] |
13 (Camargo, Moure, Roubik, 1988) |
Tsets. | ( |
Península de Yucatán |
[25] |
14 (Cresson, 1878) |
Mehenbol / Doncellita prieta / Mumu/ Abeja trompetera |
( |
Península de Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas, Sonora y Sinaloa, Cuenca Balsas Michoacán |
[19, 25, 27, 28] |
15 (Cockerell, 1913 ) |
Pringadora | Soconusco Chiapas |
[27] | |
16 (Schwarz, 1938) |
||||
17 (Cockerell, 1917) |
||||
18 (Say, 1837) |
Esculcona/ Mordelona |
( |
Cuenca Balsas Michoacán |
[19] |
19 (Strand, 1919) |
||||
20 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
21 (Friese, 1911) |
Us-Kaab/Yaaxich/ mosquito |
( |
Península de Yucatán, Tehuacán Puebla |
[25] |
22 (Ayala, 1999) |
Abeja sapito | ( |
Cuenca Balsas Michoacán |
[19] |
23 (Cockerell, 1912) |
||||
24 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
25 (Ayala, 1999) |
( |
Colima, Jalisco | [31] | |
26 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
27 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
28 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
29 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
30 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
31 (Guérin-Méneville, 1844) |
Pisil-nekmej/ Abeja congo |
( |
Sierra Norte Puebla, HuastecaPotosina- Veracruz, Soconusco |
[27, 30, 34] |
32 (Dalla Torre, 1896) |
Kantsak/Abeja congoalazana |
( |
Chiapas. Península Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas |
[25, 27] |
33 (Friese, 1900) |
Abeja Bermeja | ( |
Cuenca Balsas Michoacán y Guerrero |
[19, 32, 33] |
34 (Cockerell, 1912) |
||||
35 (Cockerell, 1912) |
||||
36 (Latreille, 1811) |
Doncellita/sayulita | ( |
Soconusco Chiapas |
[27] |
37 (Cockerell, 1913) |
KurisKab | Península Yucatán. |
[25] | |
38 (Guérin-Méneville, 1844) |
MuulKab, Culo de buey |
Península Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas |
[25, 27] | |
39 (Friese, 1900) |
Kuris-kab, Tamagaza, Basurera |
Península Yucatán, Soconusco Chiapas |
[25, 27] | |
40 (Cresson, 1878) |
Tamagaza, Basurera | Soconusco Chiapas |
[25] | |
41 (Vachal, 1908) |
||||
42 Ayala, 1999 |
||||
43 (Ayala, 1999) |
Puup, Chachem | |||
44 (Ayala, 1999) |
||||
45 (Ayala, 1999) |
Puup, Chachem, Cepimilla |
( |
Península Yucatán, Cuenca Balsas Michoacán |
[19, 25] |
46 (Friese, 1900) |
As we mentioned, stingless bees are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. In Mexico, the distribution is in Neotropical areas [35, 36], intimately associated with dry tropical and evergreen forests, though some species have been found in mountain ecosystems and mesophillic forests as well as temperate mixed pine-oak forests [24]. In the west-central region of Mexico, there is considerable
The bees from the
To demonstrate the ecological importance of stingless bees, it is estimated that they pollinate from 30 to 50% of all plant species in the lowlands in tropical America [22]. In Mexico, it is estimated that more than 80% of cultivates for human consumption depend in various degrees on these pollinators for efficient production [38].
3. Management strategies of stingless bees
3.1. Traditional management
From a sociocultural perspective, stingless bees are of great significance in the social, economic, and religious aspects of diverse areas in which have been developed various systems of managing and breeding of these insects. In tropical America, from México to Brazil, this activity goes back to the Pre-Hispanic era [30, 33, 39, 40, 41]. The traditional knowledge and management practices associated with the stingless bees still exist in the indigenous communities in Mexico and Latin America that coexist with them.
In Mexico, there are four areas where stingless bees have been traditionally and contiguously managed: 1) the Yucatán peninsula, 2) the Gulf coast of Mexico, 3) the Pacific coast between and Sinaloa y Jalisco, and 4) the Balsas River Basin in Guerrero and Michoacán [28, 33, 42, 43]. In each of these areas exist important management strategies and practices from the extraction of derivative products and breeding to a process called “meliponiculture.”
Typically, Mesoamerican meliponiculture has been developed with the goal of harvesting the goods produced by stingless bee, which represent a significant nutritional and medicinal dietary component. The honey is used mainly as a medicinal supplement and treatment for such things as ocular infection, fractures, muscle pain, sprains, cutaneous wounds, as well as gastrointestinal and respiratory illness [19, 44]. Likewise, the pollen (which they call “
Today, these traditional practices associated with Mesoamerican meliponiculture are only conserved in few specific areas in the Mexican tropics. These practices are particularly significant in the Yucatán peninsula (Mayas) [45, 46], the Sierra Norte of Puebla by the Nahuas and Totonacos [29], in the south of Veracruz by the Popolucas [34], and in the Itzmo de Tehuantepec by the Zapotecos, Mixes, Zoques, Popolucas and Nahuas [47].
Apart from the traditional meliponiculture, extraction of stingless bee products has been documented in other regions in Mexico. Bennett (1964) mentions the presence of stingless bees in areas not considered part of their normal range as in the Sierra Tarahumara and northern Sinaloa, where there is previously documented knowledge of the meliponini, specificaly
As previously mentioned, other regions of importance with regard to meliponiculture are the western and southwestern portions of Mexico; From Nayarit, southern Jalisco to the Balsas River Basin, found in the States of Guerrero, Michoacán y Morelos [33, 42, 43]. In these regions, the extraction of honey used to be principally from the species
3.2. Technical advancements in management
Today, the practice of meliponiculture persists in spite of long periods of inattention and substitution for other production activities, including apiculture. However, there has been resurgence in interest for this particular activity, which has been the impetus for strategies to rescue traditional meliponiculture making it more efficient with the goal of meliponini conservation and alternative productive projects. This resurgence is directly linked with the growing demand for natural, organic, and homeopathic products, which include honey, pollen, propolis, and beeswax. New techniques and production methods have been developed (largely through academic institutions) that has been termed “integrative meliponiculture.” This has allowed for more efficient and sustainable management of these insects where they are present. We see examples of this modern management in the States of Chiapas, Yucatán, Campeche, Guerrero, and Veracruz [27, 32, 46].
Integrative meliponiculture is a practice that takes into account not only the production factor but also the conservation and maintenance of viable colonies of stingless bees as well as the integration of the families of those interested in participating in this activity as well as the implication for community benefit. In the production sense, the goal of integrative meliponiculture is to obtain goods like honey, pollen, and propolis from the same nests while encouraging specialized ecosystem benefits like pollination in greenhouses and agricultural fields as well as the landscape in general. Environmental education is also an important aspect of this activity, where possible. Integrative meliponiculture limits the destruction of wild nests and favors their maintenance, rescue, and propagation. This activity also helps to limit the traffic and introduction of non-native species in the areas of the stingless bee's natural distribution. These principles are the main challenge for meliponculture currently developed in various regions of the planet.
4. Case study
4.1. Study area
The Balsas River Basin makes up 6% of Mexico's continental mass and covers various economically important regions of the west-central Pacific coast and south-central area between 17°00′-20°00′ N and 97°30′ y 103°15′ E. This traverses eight States in the Mexican Republic: Morelos (100%) and portions of the States of Tlaxcala (75%), Puebla (55%), México (36%), Oaxaca (9%), Guerrero (63%), Michoacán (62%), and Jalisco (4%) (Figure 1). For the state of Michoacán, this basin can be divided into three subregions, taking an altitudinal criteria: Alto Balsas, Medio Balsas, and Bajo Balsas (Tepalcatepec). The specific area of study falls inside the sub-region of Alto y Medio Balsas, and includes the municipalities of Charo, Madero, Carácuaro, Nocupétaro, Tacámbaro y Tzitzio (Figure 1).
The study area falls in the foothills of the transmexican volcanic belt, flowing from the perennial streams that descend from an altitude of 3000m from the Turicato, Taretio, and El Perdido hills located approximately 40 km to the southeast of Morelia, Michoacán [50]. These subregions of the Balsas in the state of Michoacán has an altitudinal gradient that extends from 3000m to sea level with various climate regions associated with the altitudinal changes. These climate variations principally include temperate, tropical, warm sub-humid, temperate sub-humid, and semiarid [51]. According to Rzedowszki [52], the Balsas basin is considered one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world with a wide range of vegetation types where the principle ecosystems are the tropical dry forest and mixed pine and oak forest [52]. These climatic and vegetative conditions allow for bee species richness where, according to [24], the Balsas zone between Guerrero and Michoacán demonstrates notably high endemism for stingless bees.
Studies show that temperate zones with mixed pine-oak forest have extensive land use change from forest to agriculture and horticulture where avocado is predominant [53, 54],which has serious implications in the study area. Likewise, in the tropical forest areas, land use change is prevalent for livestock that converts natural cover to induced grasslands [55]. Such perturbations and transformations of the natural or mildly transformed landscapes results in strong repercussions in the stingless bee presence since populations of these important pollinators diminish as important vegetative sources disappear or are degraded eliminating sources of pollen, nectar and resins as well as niches for nests [56, 57].
4.2. The process of technological appropriation
The process that has been designed to orient sustainable management proposals for the stingless bees in the Alto Balsas region of Michoacán, has 4 main stages. The first stage consists of an inventory of the stingless bee species in the proposed area. The second consists of the documentation of local management practices of the species present there. The third is the selection of the working group that determines the selection of species, transference of hives, and outreach and communication of the work. The fourth and final stage is the maintenance and monitoring of the managed hives.
4.3. Local knowledge and management of the stingless bees in the study area
Through exhaustive fieldwork which involved extensive collection in the different climatic zones in the study area, workshops with the local apiculturists and “
Local name | Scientific name |
Behavior (local knowledge) |
Morphology (local knowledge) |
Nesting | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1) Abeja Bermeja |
|
Defensive (gets tangled in the hair and bites). | Intense red dish median bee. | In hollow trunks. | 300 –1,600 m Tropical dry forest. |
2) Abeja Cepimilla | Bee type that likes people sweat. | Very small bee. | In hollow trunks, very small nests. | 300–1,600 m Tropical dry forest. |
|
3) Abeja Esculcona mordelona |
|
Defensive (gets tangled in the hair and bites). | Black middle bee | Aerial and exposed nest as termite mound. |
1700–2000 m Oak and pine forest. |
4) Abeja Limoncilla |
|
Docile and attack other bees. | Small dark bee with strong lemon scent. | In hollow trunks. | 300–2000 m wide distributions |
5) Abeja Sapita |
|
Very docile and timid. | Small dark bee | In hollow trunks and between the trunk and the ground | 1700–2000 m Oak and pine forest. |
6) Abeja Trompetera |
|
Very docile and timid. | Small bee. | In hollow trunks. The nest entrance is shaped trumpet (made of beeswax). | 1700–2000 m Oak and pine forest. |
7) Abeja Zopilota |
|
Docile | Median dark bee, very bright with white wing tips. |
In hollow trunks. | 300–1,600 m Tropical dry forest. |
8) Colmena real | Defensive (gets tangled in the hair and bites). | Similar to |
In hollow trunks | 1700–2000 m Oak and pine forest. |
|
9) Colmena de Tierra or Prieta de tierra |
|
Very docile and timid. | Medium bee completely dark. | Buried in the ground. | 300–2000 m Wide distribution |
10) Abeja pintilla | – | – | More small than |
In hollow trunks. | 300–1600 m Topical dry forest. |
11) Abeja Prieta esculcona | – | – | Black middle bee | Buried in the ground and cavities between the trunk and the ground.” | 300–1600 m Wide distribution |
There is a high level of local knowledge in the study area with regard to the bative stingless bees which are called
As previously described [19], the regional management in Balsas in the State of Michoacán relies on the direct extraction from wild hives with simple tools (axes and machetes). This was an important activity until the 1980s when the
4.4. Forming the working groups
As previously discussed, the Balsas region in Michoacán has significant diversity of stingless bees and their actual diversity and distribution is not fully known. However, with the investigation efforts made in this study resulted in a useful pilot project with regards to integrative meliponiculture in the municipalities of Nocupétaro and Madero. Due to the influence and direction of the researchers in this study, the group “Meliponicultores Michoacanos del Balsas” has become an organization dedicated to the management and conservation of stingless bees. Most importantly, it must be noted that the initiative came out of a genuine interest by the apiculturists whose objective is the wider recognition of the importance of these bees along with the conservation and proliferation of these species as well as alternative livelihood potential that the bees offer.
4.5. Species selection and hive relocation
We started with collecting and documenting the bees and the location of wild hives in the study area (Figure 1). As a result, we observed that in the transitional ecotones between temperate forest and dry tropical forest, the most frequently encountered species were those of
Initially, we adopted techniques and management processes that had been employed in other regions of the country for the same genus found in this area [27, 32], but with undesired results since the percentage of adaptation and retention of nests (
Through this process, we learned that it was of fundamental importance to use hives at risk of destruction or disappearance either by extraction or habitat destruction, which was causing significant impact on the bee populations. To ensure this means of selection, we developed a series of communication strategies to find out the location of hives and in particular those hives that were at risk.
Through direct dialogue with the inhabitants of the study area and formal presentations in municipal meetings pertaining to rural development organized by the local governing agencies (which were attended by all heads and representatives of the local ejidos, landholders, and communities), we presented the project and activities of the Meliponicultores Michoacanos del Balsas. This allowed us to establish rescue strategies for the nests that were at greatest risk (Figures 2 and 3).
We also employed a collection technique in which only part of the hive was extracted with only a fragment of the hive resources (honey combs and pollen) that were transported immediately to the new locations where the bee keeping boxes were already prepared for their arrival. This meant very careful extraction from the wild hives to avoid damaging the preexisting internal structure and covering the nest after extraction was completed. If the nest was located in a tree trunk or crevice, the cutting was made with power saw, which allowed for lower disturbance so that the remainder nest was not moved or altered from the original spot and could continue developing in its original location as we have seen in about 80% of nests worked.
We worked with the following five species of meliponini in the study area:
4.6. Hive maintenance and product commercialization
Once the hives have become established in the modern nesting boxes, it was important to monitor them for parasitic fly infestations by
In the hives where development was unhampered by external influences or resource limitations, we were able to obtain (in the fall—Oct-Nov) the following quantities of honey (per hive):
In the experience of the working group, though there is a period of flowering in the spring and honey production as a result, products were not extracted from the hives. Instead that was the time when hives were divided to augment the bee and product inventory. As a result of this strategy to allow the hives to take advantage of natural production and leave their nutritional reserves, the monitoring of the nests was not as frequent over the rest of the year when harvesting or dividing were not occurring.
The division of the nests was carried out by taking half of the relocated nests (after they were well established) and dividing the storage vessels. In this regard,
At the moment, Meliponiculture en el Balsas is being developed on a small scale, it is an innovative activity and has been well received by a group of apiculturists concerned about the rescue and conservation of stingless bees. The products obtained from these bees have a niche in the local and regional market and are sold directly from the producer to the consumer (Figure 5). The honey made into a suspension and is sold as a treatment for ocular infections at a price of around de $50 MN for 25 ml ($3 US dollars). This provides an earning of approximately $120 US dollars per liter of honey made into suspension. The pure honey is sold locally with a cost per liter of approximately $1000 MN ($65 US dollars). In the regional market, the working group has participated in various commercial events like the State fair and gastronomic events, among others (Image 6). The pollen is also sold, mixed with the honey at a proportion of 100 g of bee pollen per 1000 ml de honey of the species
4.7. Challenges and prospects for meliponiculture in Alto Balsas, Michoacán
During this experience, it was necessary to adapt to various ecological and biological contexts, in particular the specific needs of each of the species we worked with. Environmental conditions like flowering periods, seasonality (resulting in limited resources during part of the year), temperature fluctuations, presence and abundance of wild nests, among others, influenced the management decisions and resulting interventions. All of this speaks to adaptive management.
Without a doubt, the most influential factor was the distribution and abundance of wild nests for the species we worked with. For example,
This was the only species that required special management attention. Initially, we tried to apply the same relocation strategies as for the other species of
5. Conclusions
The interaction of the human populations with bees has been of great importance among diverse cultures in America. The relationship between the Mesoamericans and stingless bees was always been of great significance and continues to persist in some tropical areas in Mexico. Various management schemes exist to take advantage of the products of these insects. Today stingless bee populations are in decline as a result of environmental degradation primarily in the form of land use change, deforestation, and degradation [19]. Likewise, the traditional knowledge and related management practices are also at risk of disappearance as a consequence of cultural changes, economic pressures and environmental change.
In the face of these risks, it is of fundamental importance to maximize local knowledge about stingless bees and management strategies in accordance with the realities of the local context. This research program presents a development alternative to develop alternate strategies in the breeding and reproduction of these bees to aid in their conservation, while at the same time taking advantage of the products they provide. This is a viable means to promote the conservation of stingless bees and the environmental services they provide, strengthen local knowledge and encourage production activities that offer sustainable alternative to the rural communities that manage these insects.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank to the Meliponicultores Michoacanos del Balsas group and all meliponicultores and
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