meliponiculture

Meliponiculture is the practice of beekeeping with stingless bees, which are social, honey-making bees found in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. These bees, belonging to the tribe Meliponini, have highly reduced stingers but can inflict a painful bite. They were significant honey producers in the Americas before the introduction of European honeybees.12

Stingless bees are kept by humans for their honey and pollination services. Their honey is less sweet and viscous than that of western honeybees, with a higher water content, often requiring refrigeration. Meliponiculture has a long history, practiced by the Maya people and still important locally today. While stingless bees produce less honey overall than honeybees due to smaller colony sizes, their honey can be more expensive due to labor-intensive harvesting and the need to preserve the colony.2