Stingless bee food location communication: From the flowers to the honey pots

Abstract

Colonies of meliponine bees consist of hundreds to thousands of individuals, both adults and brood; however, the responsibility of bringing food home depends on just a small group of workers, the foragers. Honey, pollen, and other products that beekeepers obtain come from the hard work of these few bees. Thus in many of these species complex behavioral mechanisms have evolved in order to make more efficient the collection of food and to allow the survival of the colony. This chapter describes in some detail the processes associated with the communication systems in meliponines that permit them to improve food gathering at a social level. Given the great amount of knowledge obtained in studying honeybee communication, several references to Apis mellifera are given throughout.