The Melipona Bee: The Sacred Mayan Stingless Bee
<p>It could be hard to imagine a stingless bee species, but in fact, they are one of the oldest and most diverse groups of bees in the world [<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-60090-7" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">1</a>].</p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingless_bee" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Stingless bees</strong></a><strong> </strong>(or simply <strong>meliponines</strong>), are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apinae" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">corbiculate</a> bees that belong to the<strong> </strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_(biology)#:~:text=In%20biology%2C%20a%20tribe%20is,including%20both%20tribe%20and%20subtribe." rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">tribe</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingless_bee" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Meliponini</strong></a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_(biology)" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">order</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hymenoptera" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Hymenoptera</strong></a>, family <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apidae" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong><em>Apidae</em></strong></a>).</p>
<p>There are more than <strong>550 different stingless bee species </strong>belonging to dozens of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">genera</a> that can be found in most <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropics" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">tropical</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtropics" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">subtropical</a> regions of the world, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Australia</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Africa</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Asia" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Southeast Asia</a>, and tropical America [<a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-60090-7" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">1</a>].</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/tea-with-mother-nature/the-melipona-bee-the-sacred-mayan-stingless-bee-711885aab5c6"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>