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Australian Stingless Bees

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Pot-Honey

Abstract

To date, there has been relatively little formal research conducted on Australian stingless bees. However, the wealth of knowledge held by stingless bee enthusiasts is invaluable. Further scientific studies are needed to support these beekeepers and to help improve techniques in colony propagation, queen rearing, drone rearing, and, possibly, artificial insemination. The reported successful pollination services provided by stingless bees overseas have yet to be realized in Australia. It is hoped that further research will continue to enable us to uncover more of the mysteries of our unique bees and to develop their potential.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to sincerely thank the following people for their generous contributions to the information within this chapter: John Klumpp for his technical, field, and photographic support; Tim Heard for his technical and photographic support; Robert Luttrell and RosGloag for their photographic support; Mark Grosskopf, Thomas Carter, and Steve Maginnity for their expertise in the area of pollination and colony management; Peter Lain for information pertaining to indigenous employment opportunities, and Alan Beil for his incredible enthusiasm and expertise in the field. Thank you also to those involved in the long and arduous editorial process. We thank the reviewers for their time and constructive input and to Patricia Vit and David Roubik for their patience and guidance in this process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Health and Science, Hawkesbury Campus, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Megan Halcroft & Robert Spooner-Hart

  2. Australian Native Bee Research Centre, 74, North Richmond, NSW, 2754, Australia

    Lig Anne Dollin

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  1. Megan Halcroft
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  2. Robert Spooner-Hart
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Correspondence to Megan Halcroft .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zumba Sur, University of the Andes, Villa Del Rio 8, Merida, 5101, Venezuela

    Patricia Vit

  2. Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil

    Silvia R. M. Pedro

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama

    David Roubik

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Halcroft, M., Spooner-Hart, R., Dollin, L.A. (2013). Australian Stingless Bees. In: Vit, P., Pedro, S., Roubik, D. (eds) Pot-Honey. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4960-7_3

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