Beekeeping with Indigenous People in the Amazon

This week, when parasitic “robber bees” descended on a local stingless bee hive – Magnolia sprang into action. Magnolia is a stingless beekeeping educator in the Maijuna community of Sucusari. For the last year, OnePlanet has been training Magnolia and seven others as the first cohort of Maijuna beekeeping “promoters,” preparing them to share their knowledge of bee management. When neighbors noticed a colony in distress, they alerted Magnolia so she could demonstrate to a new beekeeper how to control the pest.

“Robber bees” are part of the Lestrimelitta genus, that specialize on raiding the honey stores of other colonies like those that the Maijuna raise. When they attack, hundreds of robber bees descend on the hive, overwhelm the resident bees’ defenses, and plunder the hive’s reserves. Robber bees are persistent parasites that are nearly impossible to prevent, and they can leave colonies bereft of honey and heavily damaged, inviting in other pests.

Luckily for the beekeepers of Sucusari, Magnolia has been experimenting with control methods for this situation. With robber bees circling ominously, Magnolia taught the beekeeper to make and use a robber bee trap that she has adapted for local conditions. Applying Magnolia’s methods, they captured hundreds of robber bees and cleaned up the infestation. The next day Magnolia followed up with the beekeeper, deftly demonstrating how to use a homemade fly trap to control any pests that follow in robber bees’ wake. Thanks to Magnolia’s teaching, the beekeeper will recover the hive and is armed with new knowledge for combating robber bees in the future.

Magnolia and her family tend 20 bee hives. As a beekeeping promoter, Magnolia is sharing her expertise, helping neighboring beekeepers keep over 150 hives in their community. Magnolia and the other Maijuna beekeeping promoters provide home-grown experience and technical assistance to local beekeepers, increasing the number of colonies raised and improving the annual honey harvest. It is exciting to see the sustainability of this activity in action! Thank you for your continued support as we train stingless beekeeping promoters—the keys to the future of stingless beekeeping with the Maijuna.