Sustainable Stingless Bee Keeping and Conservation of Bee-Plant Resources in Costa Rica

Meliponiculture, or the keeping of stingless bees (Apidae, Meliponini), is carried out in a rustic and traditional way in Costa Rica. However, changes are rapidly occurring as a result of the mass dissemination of meliponiculture through social media. The trend in Costa Rica over the last 5 years has been toward technical advances and value-added production in the activity. The use of the bottle trap technique to capture colonies has resulted in an increase in the number of stingless beekeepers, along with the illegal trade of colonies and the movement of species to locations outside of their natural range. Although there are new initiatives for the protection of pollinators, the country’s lack of guidelines on the management and breeding of these native bee species is of concern. The lack of ethics in the practice of commercial meliponiculture is generating conflicts on a regional level, and Costa Rica is no exception. We must clarify the responsibilities of those who promote these practices.