Stingless bees of guatemala

Abstract

The stingless bees in Guatemala include at least 33 species that belong to 17 genera and are widely distributed in the country, at different altitudinal ranges and forest types. They forage on flowers of a wide diversity, potentially contributing to their pollination. Their honey is highly appreciated by humans for its medicinal attributes and the honey of some species, particularly that of Melipona beecheii, Tetragonisca angustula, and Geotrigona acapulconis, is traditionally harvested. Usually hives of the former two species are kept with honey-harvesting purposes. Honey marketing faces some problems, one of which is the lack of compositional information of the product.