MELIPONICULTURE AND ITS POTENTIAL FOR POLLINATION IN ,

Dr. *Stephen Devanesan, **Dr. K.S.Premila *Former Dean and Professor & Principal Scientist ** Former Professor & Principal Scientist AICRP on and Pollinators, Vellayani Centre Kerala Agricultural University College of Agriculture, Vellayani, Kerala, India 695522 Email: [email protected], [email protected] • MELIPONICULTURE RESEARCH The All India Co-ordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Honey bees and Pollinators, Vellayani Centre of Kerala Agricultural University pioneered in Meliponiculture research in India

The publication “Status paper on stingless iridipennis Smith’’ was released at the Biennial group meeting of AICRP held at Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar during 2009 AIC AICRP VELLAYANI CENTRE

STANDARDISED TECHNOLOGY FOR HIVING, DOMESTICATION AND MANAGEMENT 2009 Release of the book Status paper on by Dr. T. P. Rajendran, Former ADG (PP) STINGLESS BEE iridipennis Smith

Asiatic stingless bees • small sized bees • family • sub- family Meliponinae • (David Roubik, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, USA)

Meliponinae

• Fairly large group • About 500 species of stingless bees • About 50 species occur in South Asia diversified flora and congenial weather conditions favourable for sustainable meliponiculture Coordinating Centres for Stingless bee Research Kerala is one of the major Agricultural States in India with ample scope for apiculture/ meliponiculture Important genera are

Melipona and Tetragonula (used for traditional meliponiculture)

14 species 21 species Tetragonula iridipennis Smith is found all over India (Dr.David Roubik,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.USA) CHARACTERISTICS - STINGLESS BEE T. iridipennis • Not truly stingless but stings are vestigial • Habitat –Feral colonies are seen in the basements of old buildings, compound walls, tree trunks, hollow blocks • Brood, and honey cells are separate • Efficient pollinators • Poor honey yielder • Average yield 500g / colony • Can be domesticated Defense mechanism

▪ Mandibles are well developed ▪ Biting is the defense mode ▪ Making annoyance by crawling into the nose, eyes, and entangling in hairs ▪ While biting they eject a caustic fluid ▪ When disturbed the bees attack the enemy in large numbers DIFFERENT CASTES

A colony consists of • a queen • a few drones and • hundreds of workers QUEEN

• queen is much larger • Lack of corbiculae and wax glands • Has longer scape • Shorter tongue • Smaller mandibles • Wings partially covering the abdomen • The sole activity is egg laying. New queen makes her nuptial flight and mate with one drone Queen DRONE • Males and workers are very similar & difficult to differentiate • Males can be identified by stightly arranged ocelli laterally enlarged compound eyes smallest scape longest antennae smallest mandibles wings projecting slightly beyond the blunt abdomen Drone bee

Worker bees WORKER BEES

• Worker bees emerge from fertilized eggs • The young worker bees are light brown and later turned into black • They perform activities like cleaning the cells, provisioning and closing the cells. • As age advanced engaged as guarding the cells and foraging. They live about 80 days. Nest architecture

Trigona (Tetragonula) iridipennis

Vertical view Nest architecture – Horizontal View Brood cells The arrangement of brood cluster is loose Brood layers

Pollen

Honey

Resin dump Wax Pillars Stingless bee T. iridipennis

KERALA AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, AICRP ON HONEY BEES AND POLLINATORS , VELLAYANI CENTRE • Brood cells are dark brown in colour in the early stages and as the pupae mature, the cerumen from walls of the brood cells are removed and became creamy in colour so that the cocoons get exposed

Cocoon stages

early stage Food storage pots • Honey and pollen are stored separately • Larger than brood cells • Oval/ round in shape • Separate or intermixed

Pots look like a bunch of grapes Pollen pots Honey pots Standardized technologies for

• Collection of feral colonies and hiving • Domestication of colonies in hives • Developed a new box for rearing stingless bee. • Stingless honey extraction technique without destroying the colony/workers/brood • Easy division of colonies • Queen grafting and multiplication • Lean season management Natural domicile • Stingless bees like darkness • Natural domicile of T. iridipennis is the crevices in the basements of old buildings, compound walls, tree trunks, hollow blocks Transfer of feral colonies from basement of building Earthen pot Wooden hives

Bamboo bit

Earthen pot Stingless bee colony in shell Colony inside a coconut shell Measurement (inner- 1 half) Length – 35 cm; Width – 7 cm; Height - 4 cm Measurement (outer) Length – 37 cm; Width – 9 cm; Height - 10 cm New wooden hive

Stingless honey extraction without destroying the workers

Removing the bees before extraction STINGLESS BEE HONEY EXTRACTION Honey extraction

STINGLESS HONEY EXTRACTION • Due to the medicinal properties of stingless bee honey, it is recommended in Ayurveda for different diseases including cancer • The production is not meeting the demand • It fetches high price ie., more than Rs.3000/- per kg DIVISION OF COLONIES Single colony divided into two

Colony with queen

Colony with queen cell QUEEN GRAFTING & MULTIPLICATION

Queen cells in stingless bee colony Queen cells of T. iridipennis are larger than that of worker cells.

Queen cells could be seen in stingless bee colonies from November to March

Queen cells – ready to emerge Queen cells – early stage Queen cell ready for grafting Queen cell is grafted to queenless daughter colony during division LEAN SEASON MANAGEMENT

Artificial feeding of stingless bees

COMMERCIAL MELIPONICULTURE IS POPULARISING IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF INDIA IN HOMESTEADS

POLLINATION SERVICE OF STINGLESS BEES

• Stingless bees are ecologically important because of their role in pollination of tropical plants and crops. • Considering its small body size they can collect nectar or pollen even from very small flowers in which Apis species cannot. Stingless bees for pollination

They collect nectar and pollen from very small flowers from which the Apis bees cannot forage • They are excellent pollinators of both forest flora and crop plants • They exhibit great flower constancy which increases the ecological importance of these bees and their value in crop pollination • Research on stingless bee in India has focused on their role as pollinators in agricultural crops and other native flora The smaller body size, shorter foraging distance, less aggressiveness, floral constancy, higher longevity of the colonies, efficient worker recruitment behavior towards food sources,

medium colony size, lesser swarming tendency, tolerant to high temperature and less pest and disease incidence

The stingless bees can be utilized for pollination in poly houses for crop improvement To produce pure seed • The Stingless bees visitation has been observed in 142 plant species • 70 provided nectar alone, • 25 provided pollen only • 47 provided both nectar and pollen They include • fruits • Vegetables • medicinal plants • plantation crops • condiments and spices vegetables • field crops • ornamental plants • wild plants and weeds

Stingless bee workers foraging from different plants Cashew-Anacardium occidentale TUBE ROSE

Coffea arabica TEA Camelia sinensis Vanilla - Vanilla sp.

T. iridipennis

Touch-me-not Mimosa pudica Ixora coccinea Periwinkle Vinca rosea Thulsi Ocimum sanctum • Coconut is the major crop in Kerala • Studies revealed that 20- 40 per cent yield increase due to bee pollination • Stingless bees play major role Stingless bees in male flowers of Coconut- Cocos nucifera female flower of coconut – Cocos nucifera Sunflower Helianthus annus Vegetables

Most of the vegetables are visited by the stingless bees The potential for pollination has yet to be assessed Vegetables

Common Name Scientific Name Family Source

Chilly Lycopersicon esculentum Solanaceae N+P Sponge gourd Luffa cylindrica Cucurbitaceae P Sweet gourd Momordica cochinchinensis Cucurbitaceae P Bottle gourd Lagenaria vulgaris Cucurbitaceae N+P Bitter gourd Momordica charantia Cucurbitaceae N+P Pumpkin Cucurbita moschata Cucurbitaceae N+P Drumstick Moringa oleifera Moringaceae N+P Chinese cabbage Brassica rapa pekinensis Umbelliferae N Waterleaf Talinum triangulare Portulacaceae P Radish Raphanus sativus Brassicaceae N+P Bilimbi Averrhoa bilimbi Oxalidaceae P Onion Allium cepa Amaryllidaceae P Brinjal Solanum melongena Solanaceae N+P Tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Solanaceae N+P Winged bean Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Fabaceae N Abelmoschus esculentus Okra Malvaceae N+P Chilli Capsicum annum Sponge gourd- Luffa cylindrica Sweet gourd Mimordica cochinchinesis Brinjal- Solanum melongena Drum stick Moringa oleifera Winged bean – Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Winged bean Fruit plant Jamba : Schizigium jambosa Polyhouse for vegetable cultivation in Kerala HAND POLLINATION IN BITTER GOURD- ( poly house)

Stingless bee colony in poly house

CONCLUSION Meliponiculture facilitate pollination of various crops which in turn enhance yield and quality seed production. Hence it is recommended to Papaya Carica papayahave “one stingless bee colony in each homestead”. Acknowledgement

Indebted to the ICAR AICRP on Honeybees & Pollinators Kerala Agricultural University Students: Nisha & Raghee Mohan