Meliponinae- stingless honey bees

Today, I learned about a bee that doesn't sting, but makes delicious honey!
 
There are about 15 bee species native to the Americas. Most live in the tropical regions. Historically, the Mayans' favourite was called "xuna'an kab" which means "Royal Lady".  It's Latin name is Melipona beecheii.  It's more common name varies depending on the information source.  I'll call it meliponinae.


Although stingless bees don't sting, they can bite with their mouths to defend their hives. And can leave a welt like a mosquito bite.

In the wild, meliponinae live in hollow trees.  Traditional Mayan beekeepers also kept their bees in sections of hollow trees that were about 2 feet long. The two ends of these jobóns, which were stored horizontally, were closed by a stone or ceramic plug.  The bees moved in/out of their homes via a hole along the length of the log, and a tunnel that they made out of wax.

The bees kept their brood (eggs/larvae) in the middle of the hive, and stored their honey and pollen in egg shaped "pots" made of wax, on the outer edges of the hive. Beekepeers could simply remove the plugs at the end of the log to harvest the honey. If well maintained hives could last over 80 years and be passed down through generations.

A stingless bee colony could have up to 80,000 bees, and produce about 2 kg of honey per year. The Mayans traditionally used meliponinae honey for religious ceremonies, and as a cure for many things including coughs, cataracts, and infections, including eye infections.

Some Mayan farmers still practice beekeeping in much the same way as before.  But the populations of the stingless bees are in decline.  Partly because of deforestation, presticide use, and habitat loss due to large storms.  Also because Mexican beekeepers now prefer to use European and Africanized honey bees.  Which make considerably more honey than meliponinae.

Happily, conservation efforts have begun. And some families (still) treat stingless bees as pets. They hang one or many log-hives in and around their houses.

Pictures
1-The symbol in the middle is a bee!
2-I learned some of this at a tourist place called Pueblo de Mais, a reproduction of a Mayan village for tourists.  This was the honey tasting station.
3 - A tunnel that the bees made of wax to get into their hive.  Courtesy of Google
4 - The pots made of wax that the bees use to store their honey and pollen.  Courtesy of Google
5 - There's a little store in my neighbourhood that only sells honey.  This was the honey tasting station.  Delicious!
6 - A cross section of the inside of a hive.  It's kinda hard to understand what we're seeing, but it's really neat anyways! 

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