Nest Architecture of Dactylurina Staudingeri (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini) in Cameroon

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 3,Issue 6, Nov. 2016

Year:

2016

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Stingless Bees, Apinae, Meliponini, Dactylurina Staudingeri, Nest Architecture, Cameroon

Authors:

Mogho, NJOYA Moses Tita; Wittmann, Dieter; Ambebe, Titus Fondo

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

3

Number:

6

Pages:

335-338

Month:

November

ISSN:

2348-3997

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

Stingless bees (Meliponini) are a group of small to medium-sized bees with vestigial (non functional) stings. They store honey and pollen and occur in perennial colonies. Meliponiculture is still very poorly developed in Cameroon and often results in destruction of colonies after harvest due poor understanding of the nest architecture. Dactylurina staudingeri is the only stingless bee (Apidae-Meliponini) found with exposed nests in Cameroon. The nests are often fixed on tree branches at a height above 4m. Combs are vertically constructed with doubled layer cells. The batumen layer is exceptionally constructed with many hard sheets. The workers bite as a defense mechanism against predators. More than 80% of honey pots are located underneath directly below the lower portion of the brood area. Harvesting of honey from D. staudingeri can be facilitated using a syringe on the honey pots to avoid colony destruction and destruction of bees.

Full text: IJRAS_498_FINAL.pdf [Bibtex]