Bees require a balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins to stay healthy. That’s why they collect pollen and nectar from flowers.
Many people are aware of the beneficial role honey bees play, but may not know that there are also wild bee species that provide valuable pollination services. Some solitary species live in holes in the ground, dead wood or hollow plant stems and serve as primary pollinators in various wild habitats.
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Stingless bees
Wild bees, particularly stingless bees, are vital pollinators for many crops and plants. In some cases, native bees are much better pollinators than commercial honey bees at pollinating these crops.
Stingless bees collect nectar and pollen from various flowers, which they store in brood cells for their larvae to consume. Furthermore, they use a chemical scent trail to help them locate suitable food sources.
They can be found worldwide, inhabiting a range of habitats including tropical, subtropical and temperate zones. In Australia they tend to cluster together in warm regions like the northern half of Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland and coastal NSW.
Stingless bees are an important group of eusocial bees, living in colonies that typically range from dozens to thousands of individuals. They are one of the world’s largest and most diverse eusocial species, possessing a range of social behaviors including the capacity for protection against other bee species.
Vulture bees
Bees and wasps are both carnivores, but only three species of stingless bee – all vulture bees – consume raw meat for protein. Vulture bees belong to the genus Trigona and can only be found in tropical rainforests where they feed exclusively on dead animals’ flesh for sustenance.
They have developed a special tooth for chewing on meat, which allows them to strip away decaying flesh from carcasses they find and bring home to their nests. They release a pheromone signaling where the dead animal is located before eating some of it for themselves before regurgitating the remainder.
According to a study, vulture bees’ guts are colonized with bacteria such as Lactobacillus, found in fermented foods, and Carnobacterium, which digests flesh. This means the acid-loving bacteria help shield them from pathogens on carcasses they consume, according to scientists.
Honey bees
Honey bees collect pollen and nectar from flowers in their environment to sustain their colony and produce honey. With these resources, they provide energy for their workers, creating honey as a by-product.
The amount of honey collected by bees varies based on season and weather. They use special pollen baskets on their hind legs to carry this collected pollen back to their hive.
Wild bees rely on a varied diet to stay alive and healthy. They forage throughout the day, collecting nectar from flowers as well as pollen essential for their survival.
However, when floral resources become scarce due to natural disasters or pests like honey bee diseases, wild bees may struggle for food. This could result in a loss of bee diversity, lower fitness levels, or even the spread of pathogens between species.
Scaptotrigona depilis
Wild bees feed on various fungi, such as filamentous fungi, which help them survive and reproduce. These organisms are essential for the development of bee larvae, who depend on them to complete their growth cycle and reach adulthood.
Scaptotrigona depilis, the stingless bee, has an intricate relationship with these fungi that live in their nests and feed their larvae. Not only do these mushrooms provide them with food but they also aid communication between themselves and other members of their colony.
Furthermore, they play an essential role in social behavior. They distinguish between nest-mates, determine their caste, locate food sources and alert others of danger.
At high temperatures, several species of stingless bees exhibit wing fanning behavior (Engels et al. 1995). To investigate this further, we characterized twenty honey samples produced in Ecuador by Geotrigona, Melipona and Scaptotrigona using 1H NMR spectroscopy and the Honey Authenticity Test by Interphase Emulsion (HATIE).
