Distribution, Nesting Sites and Nest Structures of the Stingless Bee Species, Trigona collina Smith, 1857 (Apidae, Meliponinae) in Thailand

Abstract

The stingless bee species, Trigona collina Smith, 1857 is distributed throughout Thailand. From 640 colonies collected, nests were only found in the altitude range of 18 to 830 meters above sea level. Most nests were found in mixed deciduous forests at an altitude of less than 400 meters above sea level. Nesting sites can be conveniently divided into 4 main groups; 1) cavities in tree trunks (15.63%), 2) cavities in termite mounds (42.60%), 3) underground cavities (33.75%), and 4) cavities in buildings (7.96%). The nest of T. collina is comprised of 5 main components; 1) the external entrance tube, 2) batumen barrier, 3) honey pots, 4) pollen pots and 5) brood cells. The batumen is a multilayered cover of the brood chambers. We suggested that the variation in the number of batumen layers in the nest of T. collina is associated with temperature regulation of the nests.