Trigona Stingless Bees and Kinds of Bees

Philippine Trigona Stingless Bees,

some of the world's bees and related stuffs,

how to save the bees and other beneficial 

little creatures that keep the beautiful

Planet Earth in balance nature. 

Some photos are courtesy of Google image (thank you)

With my Philippine Trigona Stingless Honeybee Hives

Trigona Spp. courtesy of Mark Berkery
Philippine local name: Kiyot / Lukot / Lukutan / Kiwot / Libog / Kelulot
English name: Sting-less Honey Bee / Dwarf Honey Bee

Trigona Spp. Stingless Honeybee / Dwarf Honeybees 

carrying pollen grains in its sugarbags.

This photo is courtesy of www.ozanimal.com

Inside the Hive of Trigona Spp.

Photo source: www.thisbamboolife.blogspot.com

Trigona Spp and Cosmos in Batangas, Philippines.

 Milea Bee Farm 

Lots of Trigona Spp. hives.

 Coconut Shells Hives @ Milea Bee Farm

A Trigona spp.

 My Trigona Stingless Honeybees in Pampanga.

 Taking care of their babies.

 Inside the Hive
Brood (eggs), honey pots (honey in propolis bag) at the upper right.

 3 in 1 (Honey, Pollen and Propolis)

the most delicious honey ever I tasted.

 White honey, processed pollen and thin cover propolis.

Nutritious and delicious, fruity taste and irresistible.

More delicious than honeys that produced by Honey Bees

 like  Italian bee honey,Asiatic wild honey bee (most aggressive, 

cannot be domesticated at all but proper harvesting will 

save the colony by just getting the honey comb section,

traditional method kill all technique by burning the entire hive 

then cook the bees both babies and adult [pulutan]) and  

Philippine native honey bees (can be domesticated but 

aggressive if you don't know the technique on how 

to handle them). By nature honey bees are nice at all,

 they won't attack human or other animals. Only killer bees
or Africanized honey bees are the most aggressive even
you are at freeze they will attack you. Just never stop running
against killer bees until you find protective shelter.
Back on honey bees, they attack when threaten,
defense for their hives or when you hitting them,
one sting, release pheromone to call back up 

to attack you and others that near the incident and they will

die when they lost their needle 'cos it is part of their abdomen.

Unlike the queen honey bees with sting, wasps and hornets

they will struck as much as they can for defensive purposes.

Defend the nest / hive. When they are flying or landed

on your skin don't hit them, it will sting you before your hand

landed to that bee, wasp or hornet. Just calm, honey bees 

collect liquids like water and perspire / sweat to maintain

the hive temperature [air conditioning unit system].  

Honey bees collect 4 types of things, 

nectar processed to become honey, pollen as their food, 

water for air conditioning and liquids from trees (dagta) 

as propolis for building hive, holds honey, pollen and babies,

 for cover defense against other animals and insects.

 From coconut hive to box hive, Trigona Spp. Bees can live

inside old guitar, unused big speaker, woods with holes, upside 

down flower pot (paso), unused old water jug and many

other containers that they feel they are secure and habitable 

for them. And these bees are good pollinators of coconut,
fruit trees, vegetables and gardens. Farmer friendly species.

 The guards near the opening entrance.

 Trigona Spp. Stingless Honey Bees are aggressive, too when they 

are threaten. They attack the soft part of your skin like eyelid, 

lips, face, neck and they tangle in your hair. Bring comb, when

you are harvesting or cover your hair.

Moss rose and Ceratina Bee or Small Carpenter Bee

Philippine Ceratina bees or small carpenter bees in 

San Vicente Pilot School for Philippine Craftsmen

City of San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines.

Young similar size to trigona stingless bees.

Adult are quite smaller than Kiyot or

Philippine native Apis Cerana.

Guarding and processing of honey inside the hive.

Honey Pots contains honey (dark) and pollen (light).

The busiest airport.

Other Photos

Ice cream container hives, traditional hives and bamboo hive.

Trigona Honey

 Trigona honey and calamansi juice

Newly harvest trigona white honey.

 Honey from Arabia

 Trigona honey, pollen, propolis and bees good for salad.

Trigona stingless honeybee queen.

 New brood transfer with few honey, pollen and bees.

 Closed door, establishing new colony.

Trigona biroi honey pots

The Seven Bee Hives

 Bamboo House
This method is using in the Philippines, India, Some parts of
Southeast Asia, Kenya, and some countries with bamboos.

Spot the Queen.

 My original trigona bee hive.

Flower pots beehives

 The second hive

White Propolis recycled by trigona bees from Arabian honey comb.

Sitngless honeybee [kalulot in Bicol] (Trigona biroi) in the Philippines

Very aggressive when you harvest the honey or moving their hive.

Through experiences I can move their hive without biting me.

Trigona biroi mostly in Luzon Island

They loves to attack your hair, eyelid and hands.

Guarding and cooling their hive.

Transferring bamboo hive to countryside.

 Bamboo house gate keeper.

Semi transparent ice cream container bee hive.

Kiyot nearly sounds like Cute.

Lukot (Philippine Trigona Stingless Bees)

They called them Kelulut in Malaysia.

 The Eye: Ice cream bee hive entrance-exit.

Bigger Ice Cream converted to Trigona Bee Hive

 Newly transferred / installed Trigona bee hive.

Trigona biroi full of nectar.

 Air-conditioning and Guarding System

 Totem Type Bee Hive

Trigona biroi stingless honeybee in Luzon Island, Philippines

The Bee Keeper / The Honey and Pollen Reaper

Trigona Ssp they are biting similar to ants but without sting.

Mellipona [more queens in colony](Trigona) they are stingless and 

Apis (one-queen per colony) they arm with stingers.

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Other Trigona Stingless Honeybees in the world

Angel Bees mostly in South America / Latin America.

Angel bees vs Robber bees

Angel bees' sugar bags of honey.

Native Stingless Bees.

Maya Bees with their queen.

Maya Bee are big stingless bees commonly in Latin America.

Maya bees in Latin America.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona Itama) in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona hockingsi) in Australia with their queen.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona iridipennis) of India.

Stingless honeybees in Ghana.

 Stingless honeybee of Honduras photo by Stephen Crosswell.

Stingless honeybees of Mexico.

Jicote bee a stingless honeybee the lives on rock walls

 in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

 Stingless honeybee of Peru.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona fulviventris) of Central America.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona clypearis) of Australia.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona laeviceps) of Thailand, Malaysia,

Philippines, Indonesia.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona mellipes) of Australia.

Stingless honeybee (Trigona melina) of Malaysia.

Stingless bee (Trigona fimbriata) of Malaysia.

Stingless honeybee / sugar bag bee  (Trigona sapiens) of Australia,

Southern Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona thoracica) of Thailand.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona ventralis) of Taiwan (Chinese Taipei).

Stingless honeybee (Trigona atripes) of Malaysia.

Stingless honeybee hive (Trigona corvina) in Panama.

There are lots of this in the Philippines. Mistaken as Trigona or small Sweat bee.

Resting small carpenter bee or ceratina bee in the Philippines.

They are small carpenter bee (solitary or sub-social behavior).

I seldom see ceratina bees with one broken antenna. 

But I never see a ceratina bee with antenna-less. 

They are not producing honey but collecting pollen. They are not 

sting people unless accidental squeeze them, catching by bare hand.  

Genus: Ceratina

Ceratina stick hive

Small Carpenter Bee (Ceratina) and lots of Trigona Stingless Honeybees.

Stingless honeybee in Costa Rica

Stingless honeybees in Panama

Stingless honeybee in Sub-Saharan Africa and highland Kenya.

White stingless honeybees in Ethiopia 

Stingless honeybees in Cambodia

Stingless honeybees in Ecuador

Trigona hyalinata - stingless honeybees in Latin America

Jatai bee (Tetragonisca angustula) - stingless honeybees in Mexico, Brazil, 

Venezuela, Central America and some parts of Latin America.

There are 98 species of stingless bees in Brazil alone.

Stingless honeybees (Trigona spinipes) in Brazil

A stingless honeybee (Trigona fuscobalteata) in the Palawan, Southern Philippines, 

Guam, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Bruinei. 

photo by Hadel Go 

Sugar bag bee a stingless honeybee in Australia.

Stingless Honeybees in Peru

Trigona apicalis stingless bees in Asia and Africa.

Trigona collina - stingless honeybees in Thailand

Trigona minima 

The smallest bee in the world 2.1 mm. (5/64 inch)

Also smallest stingless honeybee.

Stingless Honeybee fights Killer Bee

Trigona Carbonaria the most gentle among stingless honeybees, they won't 

attack you while harvesting honey. But they are aggressive against

small beetles that invading their hive. They mummifies the beetles 

and other insects using their sticky wax. They just work, work and work,

mostly found in Southern Philippines down to Northern Australia. 

Also known as Sugar bag bee.

Genus Melipona (Stingless Honeybees)

Most of them are found in Latin America

Melipona subnitida

Melipona triplarides

 Melipona mondury

 Melipona marginata

 Melipona marginata are the world best producers 

of honey among stingless honey bees.

Photo by superstock.com

The Brood Cells of Melipona marginata photo by superstock.com

Melipona beecheii

Melipona beecheii

Melipona flavolineate

Melipona interrupta manaosensis

Melipona scutellaris

Melipona quadrifasciata

Meliponula ferriginea

Melipona Honey and Pollen 

Latin American Stingless Honey Bees (Trigona and Melipona)

Distribution Map of Stingless Honeybees

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The Big 3

The Three other Honeybees in the Philippines

Life of worker honey bees

Apis Dorsata (Giant Asiatic Honey Bee / Wild Honey Bees [Pukyutan in Philippine language])

I saw like this at a tall santol tree in sub-forest terrain of San Jose, Batangas. When you are just passing by under the tree where the hive is. They are calm and you will not attack you unless, you disturb them by poking them or stone them they will attack you. When one sting it will die in minute because its stinger and abdomen will break. And releases pheromone the hundreds of bees from that colony stings you to death, like what happen in Mindanao in the Philippines and in China. Family in trouble because the broken branch fell the bees thought that family cut the branch and they are being attacked.

Traditional harvest style is wrong. They burn the entire hive for honey and cook the brood, larvae and young bees as pulutan (side dish) for drinkers. The correct manner to harvest it. You smoke them first and will calm in nature. Then cut the sides of the hive where the bees hide their honeycomb. And in several days they restore or rebuild it and you have honey again to harvest. This kind of bee colony cannot be domesticated inside the box. They just love to hung under the higher branches. 

Apis Mellifera (Western Honey Bees / Italian Honey Bees)

By the way Apis means one queen. Highly domesticated. This bee species are calm even if you don't have protective bee suit. Bee suit for safety specially in bee farms the management will angry or you will fired if you are not wearing the suit. The bee will sting you when you accidentally drop the frame they will attack the same manner as the Giant Asian Honey Bees. Very dangerous among people with asthma and allergy they will suffers from shortness of breathing.

  

Bee waggle dance - food source.

The queen with young workers.

Larvae and eggs.

Honeycomb 

Honeycomb harvest

Apis Cerana (Eastern Honey Bee / Native Honey Bee)

Apis Cerana (known as Ligwan/Laywan in Philippines) sucking nectar from a weed flower.

This native honey bees  are domesticated but aggressive always have a distant to its hive. They have stings, too. Always wear bees suit when checking them. But some experts or professionals they don't wear bee suit, they just wear the same clothes without being laundry and the native honey bees thinks that man is an allied worker. They knew the smell of that man. But in factory its safety first.  

Native honey bee sipping nectar

Makahiya flower (Philippine touch me not flower)

Nectar from different flowers turn honey.

Honeybees vs Hornets

European Honeybees vs Japanese Giant Hornets

Japanese Giant Hornet (Scout) vs Japanese Honeybees 

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The Stingers

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Other Bees

Wallace's bee (Megachile pluto) 

The largest bee in the world 2.5 inches or 39 mm. 

Carpenter Bee

Philippine Carpenter Beehive

Philippine Green Carpenter Bee

 Brown Carpenter Beehive, they bore on wood and tree branches.

Blue Carpenter Bee

Green male carpenter bee, carpenter bees has stingers, avoid them. 

Mostly black and brown in color. 

I do always see this kind of carpenter bee hive fallen, the new residences 

are spiders and small cockroaches. When I climbed a tree a year ago

I saw similar to this one. But I didn't remove it or hang on it cos it

will break and I will fall. Because dried branches are suitable for

carpenter bee to construct its hive. 

Squash Bee or Pumpkin Bee

Allodapine bee

Nestling in strong wood. 

Mason Bee

Mason beehive in other countries, mason bees are 

pets. There are varieties of mason bee styles. 

Mason bees are stingless. The female mason bees live and 

lay eggs and cover it with mud.Similar to masonry. 

Cemented her hive using mud to prevent the bird predators.

Mason bees are good for the bee keepers. People in other

parts of the world helping the mason bees obtain good hives.

They are good pollinator for trees and crops. And it is very easy 

to construct using grass stalks, recycling papers, boring woods, pipes,

and some other useful cylindrical holes for mason bees. 

Ground Bee / Miner Bee / Mining Bee

Alkali Bee

Build nest in alkali ground. 

Polyester Bee or Cellophane Bee

Leaf cutter Bee

Wool carder bee

Digger Bee

Orchids Bee

They fed on dead insects.

Vulture Bee in Latin America

They are belongs to Stingless bees, but fed on dead animals rather than

 nectar and pollen. Ant like style of collecting food for future reserve.

Neon Cuckoo Bee

Sweat Bee

This bee is stingless like the mason bee. Man's friend like the 

mason bees are calm with people. Sweat bees are mostly on 

Africa. They attracted in the salt of human sweat. Even western

honey bees during summer they tap human perspiration used for

hive air-conditioning in absence of water. Occasionally other bees

do it. Just calm of honeybees, when you slap them it will sting you

before you may hit them.

New Zealand Sweat Bees look like Trigona stingless honey bees.

Sweat bee

Sweat bee look like ceratina bee.

Bumble Bee

 Types of Bumblebee

Bumblebee nest

Africanized Honeybee / Killer bee

 Killer bee in flight

 Swarm of killer bee.

The sugar bag of killer bee is full of pollen.

Africanized Honeybee and European Honeybee

B H W

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The most gentle Honey Bee

the Carniola Bee

 Carniolan Bee

Carniolan bees

Carniolan Beehive

Bee Mimicry

(mimic / imitate)

Bee Mimickers with sting.

Wasps

Wasp

Black flower wasp

Paper Wasp also abundant when it is hot season in the Philippines.

I got stung when I trimmed the row of santan flowers. I didn't knew

that they had a nest underneath the branch.  

My right hand turns like a hand of a fat lady.

They are calm when foraging and just watching their nest, 

but when you move the branch or touching

their nest they will sting you. You will remove them 

in a place were there are many people passing,

 because they are dangerous to the people with

asthma or allergies. You will remove them using

smoke from dried leaves, when they are on leave

remove the nest. Relocate or destroy it. When you 

relocate most of the time it will attack by ants

because there are no adult wasps to protect the pupae 

with little amount of honey smells by ants.

Another things in bees and wasps do not move

or just calm when they are landed on your skin.

Bees are just collecting sweat in absence of water

for air-conditioning used inside their hives. Wasp 

maybe drink sweat or just rest. When you try to hit 

them they will sting you, so just calm and relax.

Wasp sting effect.

Stinger Comparison

Paper Wasp Nest

Red wasp

Sand wasp

Bee wolf

Bee wolf nest

Cuckoo wasp

Blue mud dauber wasp

Mud dauber wasp

Mud dauber wasp nest

Potter wasp

Tiger potter wasp

Red orange potter wasp

Black potter wasp

Florida wasp

Thread waisted wasp

Parasinoid wasp

Fig wasp

Cicada killer wasp

Pepsis wasp or Tarantula hawk wasp

Ruby tailed wasp

Emerald cockroach wasp or Jewel wasp 

Fairy fly or Fairy wasp - actually a wasp, the world smallest insect measures 0.2 mm.

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket Nest (outside)

Yellow Jacket Nest (inside)

Three species of yellow jackets in USA.

Yellow Jackets and Hornet comparison

Hornets

 Bald-faced Hornet

Hornet Nest

 Giant Japanese Hornet / Killer Hornet

Japanese Giant Hornet Nest

Japanese Giant Hornet and Bald-Faced Hornet feed on sap.

30 Japanese Giant Killer Hornets massacre 30,000 Western Honey Bees

Japanese Native Honey Bees ambush a Scout Japanese Giant Killer Hornet

Japanese Giant Killer Hornet

Bad Hornets

Asian Giant Hornets / Asian Killer Hornets 2 inches long, 

1/4 inch sting, attacking and killing people in China.

************

Bee mimickers without sting

Bee Mimicking Robber Fly 

Death Head Hawk Moth - can infiltrate and rob honey at 

night on Asian Giant Honeybee by mimic / copying the 

pheromone (scent) of Asian Giant honeybee colony. 

Fly

 Hover fly

Hover fly and Drone fly mimicking the yellow jacket
 and bees, so that other insects and animal predators
 get rid of them.

Drone fly

Bee fly

Green eyes robber fly

Syrphid fly

Robber fly mimicking carpenter bee

Some other bee mimickers

Spider 

Croatian spider wasp

Beetles

Bee Beetle

Painted Locust Borer

Painter Hickory Borer

Amorpha Borer

Tropical Rove Beetle

Bug

Ambush bug

Moth

Bee Mimic Caterpillar Moth 

Bee Hawk Moth

Bee moth mimicking carpenter bee

Reptiles

Bumblebee gecko

Bumblebee python

 Fishes

Bumblebee goby

Bumblebee catfish

Bird

Yellow crowned Bishop

Mammals 

Bumblebee bat - One of the smallest bat in the world, hover like

hummingbird. Found in Thailand. Population less than 200 (highly endangered).

Honduran white bats

Humans

Bee Sting - American Real Life Superhero

 New Orleans Hornets mascot

Jollibee mascot

Plants

Orchid mimicking bees.

 Bee Orchid

Face Orchid

Defense mechanism is so plants eating animals will avoid them.

Machine

Robot Bee

Mo bee  - build in Harvard University School of Engineering. 

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Predators and Parasites of Bees

Bee Eating Birds

Blue tailed bee eater (Merops philippinus) in Philippines.

Wood peckers

King bird

Mockingbird 

Bee Eating Insects

Robber fly

Ants

Praying mantis

Assassin bug

 Jumping spider

Crab spider and web

Blue jumping crab spider

Ambush bug

 Cockroach

Small hive beetle - hive destroyer

Lay eggs and becomes lots of worms.

But these hive beetles are no match with

Trigona carbonaria, they are being 

mummifies to death. While other

Trigona species, they throw out the 

worms and clean their hive.

There is no beetle hive in the Philippines.

Wax moth - its larvae can damage the hive.

Varroa mite - they are sucking tiny creatures. They attack 

Western honeybees (Apis Mellifera), brood cells, pupae and 

elsewhere in the hive. Eastern honeybees (Apis cerana) can 

help each other by removing the mites. 

Bee louse

Bee lice

 Scarlet basker

Giant Dragonfly 

But dragonflies are no match to hornets

Spiders with webs

  

Bee Eating Animals

Bear

Honey Badger

Mouse

Skunk

Toad

Lizard

Archer Fish

Bee Eating Plants / Carnivorous plants

 Venus fly trap

Pitcher plant

Corkscrew plant

Bladderwort

Butterwort

Rainbow plant

Water wheel plant

 Sundew plant

Sundew plant

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Bee Allied

Beneficial garden and crops creatures

Hummingbird and carpenter bee

European honeybee and humming bird

Butterfly and bee

Bee and lacewing

Monarch butterfly and bee

 Ladybug and bee

Gary Norman - Human beehive

Beneficial little creatures in gardens and crops

Don't kill them.

Fantastic 4

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Related with Bee and Hornet

 Philippine fast growing fast food chain.

Now globally competitive.

An NBA team

Chevrolet Camaro Bumblebee

Bumblebee (Cartoon original) - Autobots (good side Transformers team)

Queen Bee - Super heroine comic

Hornet - Super heroine comic 

Bumblebee - Super heroine comic / cartoon

Israel - the Land of Milk and Honey. 

Utah Seal

Utah - Beehive State

Deseret - former name of State of Utah

Salt Lake Temple door knob

Bumblebee cupcake 

K-abeillis Hotel - Hotel for the bees.

Beehive hut - Swaziland

Beehive hut - Philippines (Travelling Aeta people temporary shelter)

Save the Bees

Albert Einstein

 Bee Decline

Honey Bee Decline

Plant fruit trees, flowers, plants... Save the bees (10 tips).