Novel and innovative techniques in Meliponiculture in Kerala. The current status of knowledge

Scientific Study from the year 2016 in the subject Biology - Zoology, Mar Augusthinose College, language: English, abstract: Stingless bees are highly social insects which populated the tropical earth 65 million years ago longer than honey bees. They are limited to tropics and subtropics lacking venom apparatus and cannot sting. A little is reported so far about the domestication of the Trigona iridipennis Smith as well as the aspects of Meliponiculture in Kerala. Based on this back ground, the objectives of this study were to 1) characterize the various Meliponiculture techniques and management practices 2) the new techniques evolved for Meliponiculture practices and management as well as value addition of stingless bee products. Hundred and twenty farmers across Kerala engaged in Meliponiculture were interviewed and their Meliponiculture practices were observed and recorded. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the farmers to learn their depth of knowledge in stingless bee keeping techniques and to study the current status of Meliponiculture. In earthen bowl and coconut shell methods it is very advantageous to collect honey without causing any disturbance to the brood chamber that is at the bottom. In PVC pipe and coconut shell the colony often desert in summer due to high temperature. Even though the bamboo nodes are good, they are found to degenerate after a few years through the attack of wood borers. Stingless bee rearing is an important activity as it helps pollination and provides honey for various purposes. The bottle neck for Meliponiculture includes availability of colonies to start with, better techniques for colony capture, colony multiplication, honey extraction, processing and marketing. This study highlights the various drawbacks and flaws of traditional Meliponiculture in Kerala, which could be rectified using improved scientific management practices and tools. If correctly informed disseminated these techniques could be utilized by tribal, woman, old aged people and even children to fetch an extra income and also to serve the high demand of stingless bee honey and help to maintain the rich biodiversity of Kerala.

Dr. Prem Jose Vazhacharickal is currently working as an assistant professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Mar Augusthinose College, Ramapuram, Kerala, India. He received the research training and academic guidance from Prof. Dr. Andreas Buerkert, University of Kassel, Germany.