Stingless Bee Cerumen and Propolis, Volume 1

Stingless Bee Cerumen and Propolis, Volume 1
Author: Patricia Vit
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2024-01-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783031432736

Meliponini, the stingless bees of the tropics, process and store honey, pollen and plant resins to maintain their colonies. The chemical components of their nests are bioactive and believed to be therapeutic for a long list of maladies. However, only recently are tests and analyses being done with molecular and modern laboratory techniques, such as high throughput EDX, HPIC, HPLC, GC, NMR, PCR, and ultrastructural SEM; coupled with diverse detectors such as DAD, RI, MS, SCD. This two-volume book is about the cerumen –plant resins mixed with stingless bee wax– and propolis, which fortify the colony in ways that are beginning to be understood. It includes reviews and new research on diverse topics involving the chemistry and bioactivity of plant resins, cerumen, propolis, besides bee and microbe behavior and ecology. These analytic studies are presented along with stingless bee biodiversity, palynology, cultural knowledge, bee foraging behavior, resin flower evolution, ecology, and evolution of nest microbe mutualisms, social immunity, human health, the decisive role of microbiology investigation in moving forward, natural history of stingless bee colonies and nests, marketing, and bibliometrics for plant resin use by bees, propolis, and the Starmerella yeast.

Pot-Honey

Pot-Honey
Author: Patricia Vit
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 655
Release: 2013-01-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 146144960X

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.

Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology

Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology
Author: Patricia Vit
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2018-03-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319618393

This book covers pot-pollen—the other product, besides honey, stored in cerumen pots by Meliponini. Critical assessment is given of stingless bee and pot-pollen biodiversity in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Topics addressed include historical biogeography, cultural knowledge, bee foraging behavior, pollination, ecological interactions, health applications, microbiology, the natural history of bee nests, and chemical, bioactive and individual plant components in stored pollen. Pot-pollen maintains the livelihoods of stingless bees and provides many interesting biological products that are just now beginning to be understood. The Meliponini have developed particular nesting biologies, uses of building materials, and an architecture for pollen storage. Environmental windows provide optimal temperature and availability of pollen sources for success in plant pollination and pollen storage. Palynological composition and pollen taxonomy are used to assess stingless honey bee pollination services. Pollen processing with microorganisms in the nest modifies chemical composition and bioactivity, and confers nutraceutical benefits to the honey and pollen widely relished by native people. Humans have always used stingless bees. Yet, sustainable meliponiculture (stingless bee-keeping) projects have so far lacked a treatise on pot-pollen, which experts provide in this transdisciplinary, groundbreaking volume.

Stingless Bees

Stingless Bees
Author: Christoph Grüter
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 394
Release: 2020-12-03
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030600904

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.

Crop Pollination by Bees, Volume 1

Crop Pollination by Bees, Volume 1
Author: Keith S. Delaplane
Publisher: CABI
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2021-07-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1786393492

Since the second half of the 20th Century, our agricultural bee pollinators have faced mounting threats from ecological disturbance and pan-global movement of pathogens and parasites. At the same time, the area of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing globally with no end in sight. Never before has so much been asked of our finite pool of bee pollinators. This book not only explores the evolutionary and ecologic bases of these dynamics, it translates this knowledge into practical research-based guidance for using bees to pollinate crops. It emphasizes conserving wild bee populations as well as culturing honey bees, bumble bees, and managed solitary bees. To cover such a range of biology, theory, and practice from the perspectives of both the pollinator and the crop, the book is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 focuses on bees, their biology, coevolution with plants, foraging ecology and management, and gives practical ways to increase bee abundance and pollinating performance on the farm. Volume 2 (also available from CABI) focuses on crops, with chapters addressing crop-specific requirements and bee pollination management recommendations. Both volumes will be essential reading for farmers, horticulturists and gardeners, researchers and professionals working in insect ecology and conservation, and students of entomology and crop protection.

The Australian Native Bee Book

The Australian Native Bee Book
Author: Tim Heard
Publisher:
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2015-09-30
Genre: Bees
ISBN: 9780646939971

This book describes native bees generally and provides a complete guide to keeping Australian native stingless bees. It is richly illustrated with over 500 photos, drawings and charts to increase accessibility and aid learning. It is written by an expert who has spent his lifetime intimately engaged with these unique creatures. Keeping native stingless bees is a hot topic in Australia for commercial, environmental and recreational reasons. You can do something about the decline of pollinators by conserving native bees. Whether you keep a hive or two in your suburban garden, or want to use multiple hives on a commercial farm, this friendly guide has you covered. Bee biology, behaviour, nesting, social life and foraging; How to build your own native bee hive; How to transfer a bee colony to a hive box and propagate hives; All about sugarbag honey, including how to extract it from hives; Managing your hive; Identifying and dealing with pests; Using stingless bees for pollination - from small gardens to commercial crops; A complete list of Australia's stingless bee species, how to identify them, their characteristics, where they occur, and recommended hives; A readable summary of the latest research on native bees.

Stingless bees culture (Meliponiculture) in Kerala: hand book for farmers

Stingless bees culture (Meliponiculture) in Kerala: hand book for farmers
Author: Prem Jose Vazhacahrickal
Publisher: Amazon Publishers, USA
Total Pages: 74
Release: 2018-10-25
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1729237908

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.

Modern Beekeeping

Modern Beekeeping
Author: Ramón Eduardo Rebolledo Ranz
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2020-08-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1838801553

Beekeeping worldwide has seen remarkable development in the face of the growing demand for products from bees by consumers who demand increasingly innocuous products that do not harm the environment. However, it should be noted that, recently, problems have arisen in beekeeping production that could become restrictive factors for the worldwide development of beekeeping. This book includes, in simple and accessible terms, very relevant topics such as the effect of pesticides, the impact of diseases and their management, production and analysis of pollen present in honey, DNA analysis, and sustainable management, among others. This book is answering an expected need for accurate and international information for the productive sector.