Stingless bees in applied pollination: practice and perspectives

At present, numbers of both wild and managed bee colonies are declining rapidly, causing global concern for pollination services. Stingless bees play an important ecological role as pollinators of many wild plant species and seem good candidates for future alternatives in commercial pollination. Thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApidologie Vol. 37; no. 2; pp. 293 - 315
Main Authors Slaa, Ester Judith, Sánchez Chaves, Luis Alejandro, Malagodi-Braga, Katia Sampaio, Hofstede, Frouke Elisabeth
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Springer Verlag 01.03.2006
Subjects
Agricultural sciences
Animal biology
Animal production studies
Biodiversity
Ecology, environment
Invertebrate Zoology
Life Sciences
Meliponinae
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Summary:At present, numbers of both wild and managed bee colonies are declining rapidly, causing global concern for pollination services. Stingless bees play an important ecological role as pollinators of many wild plant species and seem good candidates for future alternatives in commercial pollination. This paper reviews the effectiveness of stingless bees as crop pollinators. Over the past six years the number of crops reported to be effectively pollinated by stingless bees has doubled, putting the total figure on 18 crops. Eleven stingless bee species across six genera have been found to forage effectively under enclosed conditions, indicating the potential of stingless bees as pollinators of greenhouse crops. The biological features that make stingless bees strong candidates for commercial pollination services are discussed, together with their present limitations. The effects of natural vegetation and wild bees on crop yield are reviewed, and make a strong case for habitat conservation.
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ISSN:0044-8435
1297-9678
DOI:10.1051/apido:2006022