Stingless bees are highly social insects which populated the tropical earth 65 million years ago longer than honey bees. They are limited to tropics and subtropics lacking venom apparatus and cannot sting. Impacts of anthropogenic influences on honey bees were already reported. Recent studies also showed that the nesting behaviour of Trigona iridipennis Smith in natural habitat also vary due to interaction, pheromones and environmental stimulus. A little is reported so far about the various natural and domesticated nesting of the Trigona iridipennis Smith in Kerala. Trigona iridipennis Smith shows great diversity in plant selection for dietary as well as resin sources. The shift towards ornamental plants for foraging may be an adaptation evolved in response to human modification of the environment. The bees collect resin from a variety of sources for building nest, its maintenance and also for defence. This hand book deals with several aspect of Meliponiculture and various problems dealing with stingless bees in Kerala.

Stingless bees are highly social insects which populated the tropical earth 65 million years ago longer than honey bees. They are limited to tropics and subtropics lacking venom apparatus and cannot sting. Impacts of anthropogenic influences on honey bees were already reported. Recent studies also showed that the nesting behaviour of Trigona (Tetragonula) iridipennis Smith in natural habitat also vary due to interaction, pheromones and environmental stimulus. Trigona iridipennis Smith shows great diversity in plant selection for dietary as well as resin sources. The shift towards ornamental plants for foraging may be an adaptation evolved in response to human modification of the environment. The bees collect resin from a variety of sources for building nest, its maintenance and also for defence. Bee traffic is found to be related to time, season, and strength of the colony. The study also highlights the various food sources of Trigona iridipennis Smith in Kerala which can be further explored for flourishing meliponiculture.

Handbook of AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY The book provides detailed information about the application of repellent products that contain plant-based ingredients known as nanobioinsecticides, including the pesticide evaluation scheme guidelines for repellent testing, relevant information about the procedures to evaluate several repellent compounds, the development of new products that offer high repellency, and guidelines for consumer safety. The chapters of volume IV of this set, focus on a wide range of related topics. They chronicle many traditional repellent plants that could be used in ethnobotanical studies and provides valuable insight into the development of new natural products. It outlines the standardization and numerous investigations used to affirm the level of repellent compounds from various plants. Furthermore, it details the safety, efficacy, and facts about plant-based repellent testing, and reviews new developments in the field. The book also explores the sustainable techniques involved in the structural elucidation and characterization of active constituents found in nanobioinsecticides, and gives relevant information on the use of essential oils, derived from plants, in the preparation of nanobioinsecticides. Audience The book is a useful resource for a diverse audience, including industrialists, food industry professionals, agriculturists, agricultural microbiologists, plant pathologists, botanists, microbiologists, biotechnologists, nanotechnologists, microbial biotechnologists, farmers, policymakers, and extension workers.

This book has a wider approach not strictly focused on crop production compared to other books that are strictly oriented towards bees, but has a generalist approach to pollination biology. It also highlights relationships between introduced and wild pollinators and consequences of such introductions on communities of wild pollinating insects. The chapters on biochemical basis of plant-pollination interaction, pollination energetics, climate change and pollinators and pollinators as bioindicators of ecosystem functioning provide a base for future insights into pollination biology. The role of honeybees and wild bees on crop pollination, value of bee pollination, planned honeybee pollination, non-bee pollinators, safety of pollinators, pollination in cages, pollination for hybrid seed production, the problem of diseases, genetically modified plants and bees, the role of bees in improving food security and livelihoods, capacity building and awareness for pollinators are also discussed.

The stingless bees are one of the most diverse, attractive, fascinating, conspicuous and useful of all the insect groups of the tropical world. This is a formidable and contentious claim but I believe it can be backed up. They are fifty times more species rich than the honey bees, the other tribe of highly eusocial bees. They are ubiquitous in the tropics and thrive in tropical cities. In rural areas, they nest in a diversity of sites and are found on the flowers of a broad diversity of crop plants. Their role in natural systems is barely studied but they almost certainly deserve that hallowed title of keystone species. They are popular with the general public and are greatly appreciated in zoos and gardens. The chapters of this book provide abundant further evidence of the ecological and economic importance of stingless bees.

This book presents an updated discussion of the chemical composition and biological properties of the main bee products. Specific attention is focused on the beneficial biological activities of bee products in human health. Honey, royal jelly, propolis, bee pollen and bee venom are used as nutriment and in traditional medicine. Their composition is rather variable and depends on the floral source and external factors, such as seasonal, environmental conditions and processing. Bee products are rich in several essential nutrients and non essential nutrients, as sugars, minerals, proteins, free amino acids, vitamins, enzymes and polyphenols, that seem to be closely related to their biological functions. The effects of these products in nutrition, aging and age-related diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and pathogen infections are discussed.

This volume provides basic information about managing wild bees and on the use of their products. It identifies and describes major bee species and their importance for nature conservation and for sustaining livelihoods of rural people. Bee products are considered at both subsistence and commercial level, and particular attention is given to the potential for further development of managing wild been species in developing countries. The role of bees for pollination of crops and the impact of managing bees on forestry and farming are presented. Wild-bee keeping techniques, honey production and marketing, and the international trade in been products are described with further references and sources of additional information given. Using this publication, readers will better understand the complexities and opportunities for developing apiculture by rural livelihoods. Also published in French.

The stingless bees are the most diverse group of highly social bees and are key species in our planet’s tropical and subtropical regions, where they thrive. In Mexico, the management of stingless bees dates back centuries, and they were an essential part of the culture and cosmogony of native peoples like the Maya. In recent decades a vast amount of information has been gathered on stingless bees worldwide. This book summarizes various aspects of the biology and management of stingless bees, with special emphasis on the Mexican species and the traditions behind their cultivation. Much of the information presented here was produced by the author and the team of researchers at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán in the course of three decades of working with these insects. Given the breadth of its coverage, the book offers an equally valuable reference guide for academics, students and beekeepers alike.

Stingless bees (Meliponini) are the largest and most diverse group of social bees, yet their largely tropical distribution means that they are less studied than their relatives, the bumble bees and honey bees. Stingless bees produce honey and collect pollen from tens of thousands of tropical plant species and, in the process, provide critical pollination services in the tropics. Like many other insects, they are struggling with new human-made challenges like habitat destruction, climate change and new diseases. This book provides an overview of stingless bee biology, with chapters on the evolutionary history, nesting biology, colony organisation and division of labour of stingless bees. In addition, it explores their defence strategies, foraging ecology, and varied communication methods. Accordingly, the book offers an accessible introduction and reference guide for students, researchers and laypeople interested in the biology of bees.

Humans have been fascinated by bees for centuries. Bees display a wide spectrum of behaviours and ecological roles that have provided biologists with a vast amount of material for study. Among the types observed are both social and solitary bees, those that either pollinate or destroy flowers, and those that display traits allowing them to survive underwater. Others fly mainly at night, and some build their nests either in the ground or in the tallest rain forest trees. This highly acclaimed book summarises and interprets research from around the world on tropical bee diversity and draws together major themes in ecology, natural history and evolution. The numerous photographs and line illustrations, and the large reference section, qualify this book as a field guide and reference for workers in tropical and temperate research. The fascinating ecology and natural history of these bees will also provide absorbing reading for other ecologists and naturalists. This book was first published in 1989.