DISTRIBUTION, BEHAVIOURAL BIOLOGY, REARING AND POLLINATION EFFICIENCY OF FIVE STINGLESS BEE SPECIES (APIDAE: MELIPONINAE) IN KAKAMEGA FOREST, KENYA BY KIATOKO NKOBA Reg No. I84F/11631/08 A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Agricultural Entomology in the School of Pure and Applied Sciences of Kenyatta University AUGUST 2012 i DECLARATION This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other University or any other award. Kiatoko Nkoba Department of Zoological Science Signature:…………………… Date:……………… We confirm that the work reported in this thesis was carried out by the candidate under our supervision. We have read and approved this thesis for examination. Professor J. M. Mueke Department of Zoological Sciences Kenyatta University Signature:…………………… Date:……………… Professor K. Suresh Raina Commercial Insects Programme, icipe African Insect Science for Food and Health Signature:…………………… Date:……………… Dr. Elliud Muli Department of Biological Sciences South Eastern University College (A Constituent College of the University of Nairobi) Signature:…………………… Date:……………… ii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to The All Mighty God, My parents Prefessor Kiatoko Mangeye Honore and Madame Kialungila Mundengi Cecile, My lovely daughters Kiatoko Makuzayi Emile and Kiatoko Mangeye Pongelle and to my wife Luntonda Buyakala Nicole. Thank you for your love and support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Prof Jones Mueke for having accepted to be my University supervisor and for providing me high quality scientific assistance. The pleasure and a great honour are for me having you as my supervisor. You have always motivated me throughout the study period and will always remember the patience you had in reading my writing expressed in French. I am greatly indebted to Prof. Suresh Kumar Raina my icipe supervisor for introducing me to the field of Commercial Insects, providing technical guidance, critical comments, moral support throughout the research period and for giving me the opportunity to join icipe ARPPIS programme. I am also greatful to my supervisor Dr. Elliud Muli for guidance, constructive criticism and for enhancingmy knowledge on beekeeping. I have learnt a lot of things from both of you, and I assure both of you that you did not preach in the “desert”. I thank Dr Maniania Nguya K., Dr Daisy Salifu and Mithoefer Klaus for providing useful comments and outstanding contribution to this work. I thank Dr. G. Goergen from IITA and Mary Gikungu from the National Meseums of Kenya for helping to identify specimens collected during this work. I am grateful to the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), the African Regional Postgraduate Progamme in Insect Science (ARPPIS) for granting me the opportunity to conduct this work, the German Office for iv Academic Exchange (DAAD) for their financial support to train under the ARPPIS program and making my dreams come true. I am grateful to Kenyatta University (KU), especially to the Department of Zoological Sciences for accepting my registration as a post graduate student. Many thanks to all the staff of Capacity Building and Commercial Insect Programme (CIP) for providing me all the facilities to accomplish my studies. I thank all my dearest friends, Ayuka Teboh Fombong, Emmah Kanuri Waceke, Anthony Cheti Lumbembe, David Tchouassi Poumo and Niassy Saliou for being like a second family to me during my stay in Kenya. I also thank all my colleagues from icipe for being there whenever I needed them. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Mr. Noah Sunguti, Mr. Charles Moshi and the Kakamega stingless bees farm group for their participation during data collection. I am grateful to Mr Guy Dieteren for introducing me to icipe. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ..................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................... xviii LIST OF PLATES .............................................................................................. xxii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................... xxviii DEFINITION OF MELIPONICULTURE TERMS ........................................... xxx ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... xxxi CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1 1.1 Background information ................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................... 5 2.1 Stingless bees .................................................................................................... 5 2.1.1 Origins and historical perspective .................................................................. 5 2.1.2 Geographical distribution and diversity ......................................................... 6 2.1.3 Nesting and nest structure .............................................................................. 8 2.1.4 Colony establishment and life span ............................................................... 9 2.1.5 Honey production........................................................................................... 9 2.1.6 Stingless bees and crops pollination ............................................................ 10 2.1.7 Natural enemies of stingless bees ................................................................ 12 2.1.8 Economic potential of stingless bees ........................................................... 13 2.2 Stingless bees in Kenya .................................................................................. 14 2.3 Importance of the Kakamega Forest ............................................................... 15 vi 2.4 Problems statement ......................................................................................... 18 2.5 Justification ..................................................................................................... 19 2.6 Research questions .......................................................................................... 21 2.7 Hypotheses ...................................................................................................... 22 2.8 Objectives of the study.................................................................................... 23 2.8.1 General objective ......................................................................................... 23 2.8.2 Specific objectives ....................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER THREE: DIVERSITY OF STINGLESS BEES WITHIN HABITATS IN KAKAMEGA FOREST .................................................................................. 24 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 24 3.2 Materials and methods .................................................................................... 26 3.2.1 Study area..................................................................................................... 26 3.2.2 Sampling methods ........................................................................................ 28 3.2.3 Data analysis ................................................................................................ 29 3.2.3.1 Species richness within the two sites and six habitats .............................. 29 3.2.3.2 Species evenness and diversity within the two sites and six habitats ....... 30 3.2.3.3 Species composition and rank abundance of nests overall and within the two sites ................................................................................................................ 32 3.2.3.4 Species composition within habitats of the two sites................................ 33 3.2.3.5 Predicted probabilities of the presence of a nest of a stingless bee species within habitats ....................................................................................................... 34 3.2.3.6 Degree of similarity in species fauna within habitat ................................. 36 3.2.3.7 Similarity in species composition within habitat and habitat preferences within stingless bee species .................................................................................. 36 3.3 Results ............................................................................................................. 37 3.3.1 Stingless bee species and local names ......................................................... 37 vii 3.3.2 Species richness within the two sites ........................................................... 38 3.3.3 Species richness within the six habitats ....................................................... 39 3.3.4 Evenness in species composition within the two sites ................................