In Gabon, like elsewhere in Africa, crops are often sources of conflict between humans and wildlife. Wildlife damage to crops can drastically reduce income, amplifying poverty and creating a negative perception of wild animal conservation among rural people. In this context, crop-raiding animals like elephants quickly become “problem animals”. To deter elephants from raiding crops beehives have been successfully employed in East Africa; however, this method has not yet been tested in Central Africa. We experimentally examined whether the presence of Apis mellifera adansonii, the African honey bee species present in Central Africa, deters forest elephants (Loxodonta Africana cyclotis) from feeding on fruit trees. We show for the first time that the effectiveness of beehives as deterrents of elephants is related to bee activity. Empty hives and those housing colonies of low bee activity do not deter elephants all the time; but beehives with high bee activity do. Although elephant disturbance of hives does not impede honey production, there is a tradeoff between deterrence and the quantity of honey produced. To best achieve the dual goals of deterring elephants and producing honey colonies must maintain an optimum activity level of 40 to 60 bee movements per minute. Thus, beehives colonized by Apis mellifera adansonii bees can be effective elephant deterrents, but people must actively manage hives to maintain bee colonies at the optimum activity level.

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How Bees Deter Elephants: Beehive Trials with Forest Elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis) in Gabon.

Stingless bees are important pollinators of wild plants and crops. The identity of stingless bee species in Africa has not been fully documented. The present study explored the utility of morphometrics and DNA barcoding for identification of African stingless bee populations, and to further employ these tools to identify potential cryptic variation within species. Stingless bee samples were collected from three ecological zones, namely Kakamega Forest, Mwingi and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which are geographically distant and cover high, medium and low altitudes, respectively. Forewing and hind leg morphometric characters were measured to determine the extent of morphological variation between the populations. DNA barcodes were generated from the mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase I (COI) gene. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the morphometric measurements separated the bee samples into three clusters: (1) Meliponula bocandei; (2) Meliponula lendliana + Plebeina hildebrandti; (3) Dactylurina schmidti + M...

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Identification of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Kenya using morphometrics and DNA barcoding

Introduction. Meliponini and Apini contribute to the pollination of flowering plants and to improving agricultural yields. These bees' diversity, distribution and abundance depend on the ecosystem in which they evolve. The present work aims to summarize the diversity, distribution, abundance, potential threats, challenges and issues faced with respect to these social bees in Africa. Literature. In Africa, there were 21 species of Meliponini and 2 species of Apini (Apis). Aspects related to the species diversity, distribution, biology, ecology and abundance of nests are poorly documented, especially for Meliponini. This deficit could be related to a lack of interest of the authors or the various difficulties in performing these studies in Africa. With regard to the difficulties, there is a need to clarify the taxonomy of Meliponini, and the observation of nests in certain forest environments is difficult. Nest predation and habitat loss are the main threats that could cause the depopulation of certain social bee species in Africa. If there is currently new evidence that diseases and pests did not endanger these bees, then there is a need for further studies for better assessment of the risks that are associated with these potential threats. Conclusions. Work on the diversity, distribution and abundance of the social bees must be strengthened to address the challenges that are related to these insects in Africa. Indeed, this approach will contribute to answering the challenges of sustainable management of the biodiversity and economic and agricultural issues.

Meliponini and Apini in Africa (Apidae: Apinae): a review on the challenges and stakes bound to their diversity and their distribution

Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) are the most diverse group of corbiculate bees and are important managed and wild pollinators distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. However, little is known about their associated beneficial microbes that play major roles in host nutrition, detoxification, growth, activation of immune responses, and protection against pathogens in their sister groups, honeybees and bumble bees. Here, we provide an initial characterization of the gut bacterial microbiota of eight stingless bee species from sub-Saharan Africa using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Our findings revealed that Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria were the dominant and conserved phyla across the eight stingless bee species. Additionally, we found significant geographical and host intra-species-specific bacterial diversity. Notably, African strains showed significant phylogenetic clustering when compared with strains from other continents, and each stingless bee species has its own microbial composition with its own dominant bacterial genus. Our results suggest host selective mechanisms maintain distinct gut communities among sympatric species and thus constitute an important resource for future studies on bee health management and host-microbe co-evolution and adaptation.

Loss and Gain of Gut Bacterial Phylotype Symbionts in Afrotropical Stingless Bee Species (Apidae: Meliponinae)

Recent studies have shown that honey bees, bumble bees, and some meliponine bee species of the genera Trigona, Meliponula, and Dactylurina are hosts of the small hive beetle (SHB) Aethina tumidaMurray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), a pest of honey bee colonies in various regions of the world. Olfaction has been implicated in SHB infestations of honey bee and bumble bee colonies. We used olfactometer bioassays to investigate responses of adult male and female SHBs to odors from intact colonies and separate hive components (pot honey, pot pollen, cerumen, and propolis) of three African meliponine bee species, Meliponula ferruginea (Lepeletier) (black morphospecies), M. ferruginea (reddish brown morphospecies), and Meliponula bocandei (Spinola) (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Although both sexes of the beetle strongly preferred intact colony, pot honey, and pot pollen odors, there was no evidence of attraction to propolis and cerumen odors from the three meliponine bee species. Both sexes of SHB also strongly preferred odors from honey bees, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), over odors from the three meliponine bee species. Our results provide substantial evidence of the host potential of African meliponine bees for the SHB, and we discuss this complex association of the SHB with species within the Apidae family.

Behavioral responses of the small hive beetle, Aethina tumida, to odors of three meliponine bee species and honey bees, Apis mellifera scutellata

Description de Liotrigona gabonensis sp. nov., et quelques corrections à la synonymie des espèces africaines de mélipones (Hymenoptera : Apoidea : Apinae : Meliponini)

Le petit coleoptere des ruches, Aethina tumida (Murray 1867), a ete signale dans de nombreux pays d’Afrique subsaharienne Ce parasite est considere comme une menace mineure pour les colonies importantes d’Apis mellifera (Linnaeus 1758) en Afrique mais une menace majeure lors du transfert des colonies sauvages de Meliponula bocandei (Spinola 1853) dans des ruches Aucune donnee n’a ete publiee sur la situation du Gabon et la situation des colonies sauvages est mal connue Aussi, la presente etude a pour objet : (1) de faire un premier etat de la prevalence d’A tumida dans les colonies sauvages d’A mellifera et M bocandei au Gabon ; (2) de verifier l’efficacite de la mise en place d’une quarantaine lors du transfert de M bocandei dans une ruche contre A tumida Ainsi, 59 nids d’A mellifera et 25 nids de M bocandei ont ete inspectes dans deux localites Aussi, douze colonies de M bocandei ont ete transferees dans des ruches avec une quarantaine de 4 jours et douze ont ete transferees sans quarantaine Aethina tumida a ete observe dans plus de 70 % des colonies d’A mellifera inspectees et dans une seule colonie de M bocandei Aucun degât n’a ete observe dans les colonies d’A mellifera Plus de 60 % des couvains de M bocandei, mis en quarantaine ou non, ont ete detruits par A tumida lors du transfert dans des ruches Cette etude met en evidence la presence d’A tumida au Gabon et la necessite de developper une methode de domestication plus efficace de M bocandei dans des ruches

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Parasitisme d’Apis mellifera adansonii (Latreille 1804) et de Meliponula bocandei (Spinola 1853) par Aethina tumida (Murray 1867): premier recensement au Gabon et impact sur la domestication

We present an overview of the diversity, distribution, nesting behaviour, traditional knowledge and use of stingless bees in Gabon, Central Africa. A total of 16 species were recorded and grouped into 5 genera: Cleptotrigona, Dactylurina, Meliponula, Hypotrigona and Liotrigona. The species identification of Hypotrigona and Liotrigona based on morphological characteristics remains difficult. The distribution of stingless bees is poorly documented in Gabon. However, several species have been reported to have wide distributions. Stingless bees build exposed nests or nests in tree cavities, in the ground or in termite mounds and anthills. The inhabitants of Gabon hunt honey to support traditional medicine. Future research should focus on investigating how human activities impact the diversity of stingless bees in Gabon, along with assessing the threats and constraints of implementing a breeding programme for stingless bees.

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Edgard Fabre Anguilet

Papers

Meliponini and Apini in Africa (Apidae: Apinae): a review on the challenges and stakes bound to their diversity and their distribution

Description de Liotrigona gabonensis sp. nov., et quelques corrections à la synonymie des espèces africaines de mélipones (Hymenoptera : Apoidea : Apinae : Meliponini)

Parasitisme d’Apis mellifera adansonii (Latreille 1804) et de Meliponula bocandei (Spinola 1853) par Aethina tumida (Murray 1867): premier recensement au Gabon et impact sur la domestication

Stingless Bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Meliponini) from Gabon