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The stingless bee belongs to the subfamily ''Meliponinae'' (usually called the Stingless Honeybee ) in the family '' Apidae '', which also comprise the common Honeybees , Carpenter Bees , Orchid Bees and Bumblebees . Stingless bees can be found in several parts of the world, such as Australia , South Africa , and parts of Mexico and Brazil . Unlike in other parts of the world, all native bees of Central and South America are stingless, although only three of them produce honey. Stingless bees are active all year round, although they are less active in cooler weather. Unlike other bees, they do not sting but will defend by biting if their nest is disturbed. Stingless bees are social bees with very large Colonies . STINGLESS BEES OF AUSTRALIA Of the 1600 species of wild bees native to Australia, about 14 species are stingless. Stingless bees are also known as Australian native honey bees, native bees, sugar-bag bees and sweet bees. They are small, black in colour, with hairy extended hind legs for carrying Nectar and Pollen ; because of this they are often mistaken for the Bumblebee . The various stingless species look quite similar, with the two most common species, ''Trigona carbonaria'' and ''Austroplebeia australis'', displaying the greatest variation, as the latter is smaller and less active. Both of these are often found in the area around Brisbane . Stingless bees usually nest in hollow trunks and branches of trees or rock crevices, but they have also been encountered in wall cavities, old rubbish bins, water meters, and 44-gallon drums. Many Beekeepers keep the bees in their original log Hive or transfer them to a wooden box, as this makes it easier to control the hive. As stingless bees are harmless to humans, they have become an increasingly attractive addition to the suburban backyard. Most stingless beekeepers do not keep the bees for Honey ; rather, they enjoy the sense of conserving a Native species whose original Habitat is declining due to human development. In return, the bees Pollinate crops, garden flowers, and bushland during their search for nectar and pollen. While a number of beekeepers fill a small niche market for bush honey, stingless native bees only produce quite small amounts and the structure of their hives makes the honey difficult to extract. It is only in warm areas of Australia, such as Queensland and northern New South Wales , that the bees can produce more honey than they need for their own survival. Harvesting honey from a nest in a cooler area could weaken or even kill the nest. Hives The bees store pollen and honey in large egg-shaped pots made of Beeswax , mixed with a plant resin called Propolis . These pots are irregularly arranged around a central Brood Comb , where the Larval bees are housed. Being in the middle of the hive helps insulate the young bees from major temperature changes. When the young worker bees emerge from their cells, they tend to remain inside the hive, pursuing different jobs. Some will be involved in the ongoing construction of the hive, while others will remove rubbish or become nurse bees, producing Royal Jelly to feed the larvae. As they get older, they become guards or foragers. Most die at this stage (around 80 days), although some may live to become scouts, responsible for finding food and alerting other bees in the hive to its source. At any one time, hives can contain about 10,000 workers, 10,000 larvae and several hundred drones. The Sex of each bee depends on the number of Chromosomes it receives. Female bees have two sets of chromosomes ( Diploid ) - one set from the Queen and another from one of the male bees or Drones . Drones have only one set of chromosomes ( Haploid ), and are the result of unfertilized eggs. Female bees may become workers or queens depending on the nutrition they receive as larvae. Queen bee cells can be distinguished from other cells by their larger size, as they are stocked with more food than the worker and drone cells. When the new queens emerge, they are killed or evicted. But if the ruling queen is weak or dying, the hive will select a virgin queen to replace her. Honey production In warm areas of Australia, these bees can be used for minor honey production. They also can be kept successfully in boxes in these areas. Special methods are being developed to harvest moderate amounts of honey from stingless bees in these areas without harming the bees. Like the European honeybee ('' Apis Mellifera ''), which provides most of Australia's commercially-produced honey, stingless bees have enlarged areas on their back legs for carrying pollen back to the hive. After a foraging expedition, these pollen baskets or ''corbiculae'' can be seen stuffed full of bright orange or yellow pollen. Stingless bees also collect nectar, which they store in an extension of their gut called a Crop . Back at the hive, the bees ripen or dehydrate the nectar droplets by spinning them inside their mouthparts until honey is formed. Ripening concentrates the nectar and increases the sugar content from between 20 and 40 percent, to about 80 percent. Stingless bees store their aromatic honey in clusters of small resin pots near the extremities of the nest. For honey production, the bees need to be kept in a specially-designed box so that the honey stores can be reached without damaging the rest of the nest structure. Some recent box designs for honey production provide a separate compartment for the honey stores so that honey pots can be removed without spilling honey into other areas of the nest. Unlike a hive of commercial honeybees, which can produce 75 kilograms of honey a year, a hive of stingless bees produces less than one kilogram. Stingless bee honey has a distinctive "bush" taste - a mix of sweet and sour with a hint of lemon. The taste comes from plant resins - which the bees use to build their hives and honey pots - and varies depending on the flowers and trees visited. Pollination Australian farmers rely heavily on the introduced commercial bee to pollinate their crops. However, for some crops native bees may be better pollinators. Stingless bees have been shown to be valuable pollinators of crops such as macadamias and mangos. They may also benefit strawberries, watermelons, citrus, avocados, lychees and many others. Research into the use of stingless bees for crop pollination in Australia is still in its very early stages, but these bees show great potential. Recent studies at the University Of Western Sydney (see ''Aussie Bee'', Issue 10 ) have shown these bees' excellent ability to work in confined areas such as glasshouses. Other types of Australian native bees may also prove to be great pollinators. Native carpenter bees, teddy bear bees and blue banded bees can perform a special type of pollination called Buzz Pollination , which ''Apis mellifera'' is unable to perform. This could make them ideal pollinators of crops such as tomatoes, kiwi fruit, eggplants, blueberries, cranberries, and chilli peppers. MAYAN STINGLESS BEES OF CENTRAL AMERICA .]] Meliponine bees (''Melipona beecheii'' and ''M. yucatanica'') are the only honeybees native to the Americas. They were extensively cultured by the Mayan tribes for honey, and regarded as sacred. These bees are endangered due to massive deforestation, altered Agricultural practices (especially Insecticide s), and changing beekeeping practices with the arrival of the Africanized Honeybee , which produces much greater honey crops. History Native stingless bees (''Melipona beecheii'' being the favorite) have been kept by the lowland Maya for thousands of years. The traditional Mayan name for this bee is Xunan kab, literally meaning "royal lady". The bees were once the subject of religious ceremonies and were a symbol of the bee-god Ah Muzen Cab, who is known from the Madrid Codex . The bees were, and still are, treated as pets. Families would have one or many log-hives hanging in and around their house. Although they are stingless, the bees do bite and can leave welts similar to a mosquito bite. The traditional way to gather bees, still favored amongst the locals, is to find a wild hive; then the branch is cut around the hive to create a portable log, enclosing the colony. This log is then capped on both ends with another piece of wood or pottery and sealed with mud. This clever method keeps the melipine bees from mixing their brood, pollen, and honey in the same comb as the European bees. The brood is kept in the middle of the hive, and the honey is stored in vertical "pots" on the outer edges of the hive. A temporary, replaceable cap at the end of the log allows for easy access to the honey while doing minimal damage to the hive. However, inexperienced handlers can still do irreversible damage to a hive, causing the hive to swarm and abscond from the log. On the other hand, with proper maintenance, hives have been recorded as lasting over 80 years, being passed down through generations. In the archaeological record of Mesoamerica, stone discs have been found which are generally considered to be the caps of long-disintegrated logs which once housed the beehives. Tulum Tulum, the site of an ancient Mayan city on the Caribbean coast 130 km south of Cancun, has a god depicted repeatedly all over the site. Upside down, he appears as a small figure over many doorways and entrances. One of the temples, the "Templo del Dios Descendente" or the Temple of the Descending God, stands just left of the central plaza. Speculation is that he may be the "Bee God", Ah Muzen Cab, as seen in the Madrid Codex. It is possible that this was a religious/trade center with emphasis on Xunan kab, the "royal lady". Economic products from beekeeping Balché, an alcohol beverage similar to mead, was made from fermented honey and the bark of the Balché tree, hence its name. It was traditionally brewed in a canoe. The drink was known to have entheogenic properties, and was consumed in medicinal and ritual practices. The hallucinogenic properties come from the alkaloid bark of the leguminous Balché tree (''Lonchocarpus violaceus''), although whether the hallucinogens came from the bark or the honey, which beekeepers would harvest after placing the nests near the trees, remains uncertain. Toxic and hallucinogenic substances can be found in honey if bees collect nectar and pollen from certain types of vegetation. Most likely, it is a combination of the two, since balché is made from both the melipine honey from the Balché tree, and the bark of the tree, brewed and fermented together. Lost wax casting, a common metalworking method which is typically found where the inhabitants keep bees, was also utilized by the Maya. The wax from melipona is soft and easy to work, especially in the humid Mayan lowland areas. This allowed the Maya to create smaller works of art, jewelry, and other metalsmithing that would be difficult to forge. It also makes use of the leftovers from honey extraction. If the hive was damaged beyond repair, the whole of the comb could be used, thus using all of the hive. With experienced keepers, though, only the honey pot could be removed, the honey extracted, and the wax used for casting or other purposes. The medicinal use of honey has been recognized by many beekeeping cultures, possibly including the Maya. The science behind medicinal honey has to do with its water content and osmotic pressure. Honey contains roughly 80% dissolved solids, leaving around 20% for water. The low water content, when put next to the porous membrane of a high water content cell, such as a bacterium or yeast cell, causes the water to rush out of the cell as a result of osmotic pressure, thereby causing cell death. This anti-bacterial property of honey is still used today, and has seen an increase in use as an alternative therapy. FUTURE The outlook for stingless bees is grim. The number of active melipona beekeepers is rapidly declining in favor of the more economical, non-indigenous Africanized ''Apis mellifera''. The high honey yield, 100 kilograms or more annually, along with the ease of hive care and ability to create new hives from existing stock, commonly outweighs the negative consequences of "killer bee" hive maintenance. Furthermore, there are flora that the Africanized honeybees do not visit, such as those in the tomato family, and several forest trees and shrubs, which rely on the native stingless bees for pollination. There has already been a decline in native populations of flora in areas where melipona bees have been displaced by Africanized honeybees. An additional blow to the art of stingless beekeeping is that many of the stingless beekeepers are now elderly men and women, whose hives may not be cared for once they die. The hives are considered similar to an old family collection, to be parted out once the collector dies. In fact, a survey of a once-popular melipine area of the Mayan lowlands shows the rapid decline of beekeepers, down to around 70 in 2004 from thousands in the late 1980s. There are conservation efforts underway in several parts of Mesoamerica. A comprehensive conservation guide can be found in the June 2005 issue of ''Bee World''. STINGLESS BEE SPECIES Austroplebia spp
''Melipona'' genus
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