stingless bees

i want to start raising the Mexican stingless bee or mayan stingless bee. to give away colony's for schools but im kinda wondering in California if they will survice and if anyone has them ? or is raising some?

Melipona Beecheii bee in California

Here's a little something I found that might help-
testweb.science.uu.nl/sommeijer/hive/hive.pdf

Hey,

Great post. I didn't know there was such a thing as sting less bees. Are they allowed in this country? I live in North Carolina. I have a son who is very allergic to bee stings but I want to keep honey bees for my garden.

Stingless bees are native in Costa Rica - they make very nice honey too, but they are very small. Here they are called congas - don't say congos, because that would be a howler monkey...

Not sure if they can survive winter months .

We have very mild winters here where I am located. It only gets below freezing a few days a year. We are warmer near the coast because of the gulf stream off our coast. So I don't think that would be an issue. I am more concerned about legality I know that bringing in non-native species of anything gets the powers to be in an uproar. Are they legal to have here?

It appears we're not the only ones interested, some more folks talking about it here.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?241040-Anyone-raise-Stingless-Bees-in-USA

Hey,

Thanks Ernie for the links. They were helpful. I see that it is illegal to import them. Oh well I guess it's an epi pen.

Becky Keith wrote:Hey,

Great post. I didn't know there was such a thing as sting less bees. Are they allowed in this country? I live in North Carolina. I have a son who is very allergic to bee stings but I want to keep honey bees for my garden.

i have no idea and that's the issue.. the map of the singless bee's ends in mexico so it could be illegal to keep them.. but i really really want some.. because it would be a perfect green house bee for where i live

Stingless bee keeping is starting to really take off in countries like Colombia and Brazil. There are a series of videos about stingless bees from a youtube video show called camino al agro (the path to agro) which I have found to be very informative and well done. They explain how to build bate hives (you can see one in one of the pictures in my projects thread), capture and move colonies, make wood hives for handling and harvesting of the honey. The colonies are organized in a different way (i.e. the distribution of structures inside the hive) to european (apis) bees, so the hives are built in a different manner. I'm embedding the first video from the series and you can find the rest based on the titles in their channel (just click on the ones that say "abejas meliponas"). They are all in Spanish but you can have youtube close caption and automatically translate to English and this way you can get a fair idea of what is being said. I would be happy to contribute a translation of any part that you don't understand or that the automatic translation messes up.



I was recently at a restaurant where they sell locally produced honey and the cost for the stingless bee's honey was 4 times higher than regular honey, probably because the production is lower than with regular bees. I have not had the chance to try it, but it is clearer in appearance and a bit more fluid.

Hey guys! Im new to this forum so excuse my late reply! I have been very interested in the melipona bees (stingless bees) aswell. I just looked up the legal information on the USDA website, and apparently non-honeybees can only be imported from canada. So all stingless bee varieties would be illigal to import. Im sorry 😭

Thanks for bringing this thread back, I hadn't seen it. Are there any meliponids in the US? I imagine they would survive in Florida (and maybe Southern California).

From the research I've done, there are stingless bees in central and south america, india, and australia. And according to the USDA, the only non-honeybees you can import from canada as a live brood are: alfalfa leafcutter bees, bumblebees, blue orchid bees, and horn-faced bees.

Melipona bees are under threat in the Yucatan, where we live.  It is the normal causes .. destruction of habitat, poisoning and dying out of the culture of keeping these bees.  They are not difficult bees to raise but need a very specific diet and the areas that can supply those specific trees can carry the Meliponas.  The trees are indigenous where we are.  The honey is gorgeous, I would say for medical purposes it rivals the Australian Manuka honey.  Of course it is expensive honey as the quantity of honey is very little compared to any traditional bee keeping.  The bees were traditionally kept in their log homes, hanging under the overhangs or eaves of the roofs, almost like pets if you like.    There is a reviving interest in these bees ... http://www.meliponamaya.org/  


There is much work being done now trying to duplicate the traditional wood round hives with hives from bamboo.  I was the proud owner of 3 hives (grins).  But we are in Mexico, and some things of value get stolen.  Nothing else, but my 3 hives got nicked one dark night!  We will replace them.  They are the ugliest little bees that make you think they are just beautiful.      

That is great about the resurgence of keepers.

I keep stingless bees here in Australia. I have quite a few hives and am continuing to propagate them and increase my numbers. I find them so damn interesting.

We have a type of wild, stingless bee here in Kenya also.  They produce an excellent honey, but the quantity is so small, I never thought of actually trying to keep them.  AND, since the kids know they don't sting, they are very quick to raid any stingless hives they find.  I would be interested to hear how people are keeping them.  What kind of hives do you use, and how do you harvest?  How often?

this might help Maureen http://www.aussiebee.com.au/keepingstinglessbees.html

That's on the Aussie species. I also have an article on keeping stingless bees if you are still after info.

How did you end up going with it?

These bees are interesting.  One specie is thought to be the only natural polinator of the world's vanilla supply.  Though not much use in North America, probably would need a green house with a constant food supply because they lack the preprogramming to store honey for winter.