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Diversity of Stingless Bees in Ecuador, Pot-Pollen Standards, and Meliponiculture Fostering a Living Museum Meliponini of the World

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Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology

Abstract

Despite their megabiodiversity, the stingless bees from Ecuador have been studied in relatively few projects. An advancement in Ecuadorian meliponiculture is possible despite the reluctant support of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Institute of Normalization in Ecuador. Diverse approaches to pursue the protection of ancestral knowledge – as that in the Good Living Plan Sumak Kawsay – are discussed: (1) diversity of Ecuadorian stingless bees, (2) valorization of Ecuadorian pot-honeys and pot-pollen, (3) impact of climate change in Meliponini biodiversity, and (4) the role of stingless beekeepers in heritage and conservation. We reviewed the literature on topics for the diversity of species and pot-pollen composition. Ecuador is megadiverse in stingless bees; a total of 132 species distributed in 23 genera were found in 24 provinces. We report 54 species collected during a pot-honey research project in 1 year (2014–2015), 26 of them for the first time in Ecuador. Stingless bees are key species of ecological and economic importance for their role as pollinators of native, wild, and cultivated plants – candidates to predict climate change impact. A living museum to embrace Meliponini of the world is presented as a project to support these efforts at a global scale in the tropics where stingless bees and their keepers live. The Route of Living Museums of Meliponini Bees in the World complies with the definition of eco-museum and enhances appreciation for stingless bees.

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Acknowledgments

To Ecuadorian stingless beekeepers. To the Prometeo-UTMACH scholarship (2014–2015) to P. Vit for the research project “Valorization of Pot-Honey produced by Meliponini in Ecuador.” Professor Med. Vet. F Maza (Planning Director) and his secretary Mrs. E. Brito kindly supported the administrative needs for the research successfully hosted at Universidad Técnica de Machala, Ecuador. To the late Professor JMF Camargo, Biology Department, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, for his scientific rigor and artistic imprint in observing stingless bees and his legacy with the Camargo Collection – RPSP. To Professor Giovanni Onore, retired from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ecuador, for his academic struggle and success in a society known for a peculiar reduction of heads in the forest and his seminal work on Ecuadorian Meliponini. V. Frisone’s work was supported by the Municipality of Montecchio Maggiore, Museo di Archeologia e Scienze Naturali “G. Zannato,” Italy. To appreciated comments of reviewers. Dr. DW Roubik kindly edited the English manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Apitherapy and Bioactivity, Food Science Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Bioanalysis, Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida, 5101, Venezuela

    Patricia Vit

  2. Cancer Research Group, Discipline of Biomedical Science, Cumberland Campus C42, The University of Sydney, 75 East Street, Lidcombe, NSW, 1825, Australia

    Patricia Vit

  3. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto - FFCLRP, Universidade de São Paulo – USP, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, CEP 14040-901, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil

    Silvia R. M. Pedro

  4. Academic Unit of Agro-Livestock Sciences, Universidad Técnica de Machala, Machala, El Oro Province, Ecuador

    Favian Maza

  5. Departamento de Zoología, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, AP 4-116, Col. Itzimná, 97100, Mérida, Yucatan, México

    Virginia Meléndez Ramírez

  6. Museo di Archeologia e Scienze Naturali ‘G. Zannato’, 17 Piazza Marconi, 36075, Montecchio Maggiore, Vicenza, Italy

    Viviana Frisone (Museum Curator)

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  1. Patricia Vit
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  2. Silvia R. M. Pedro
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  4. Virginia Meléndez Ramírez
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Correspondence to Patricia Vit .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Bioanalysis, Universidad de Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela

    Patricia Vit

  2. Biology Department, School of Philosophy, Sciences and Literature, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

    Silvia R.M. Pedro

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama

    David W. Roubik

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Vit, P., Pedro, S.R.M., Maza, F., Ramírez, V.M., Frisone, V. (2018). Diversity of Stingless Bees in Ecuador, Pot-Pollen Standards, and Meliponiculture Fostering a Living Museum Meliponini of the World. In: Vit, P., Pedro, S., Roubik, D. (eds) Pot-Pollen in Stingless Bee Melittology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61839-5_15

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