Perhaps not many of us are aware that besides the bees of the Apis genus, we have another group of bees that are potential producers of bee products (honey, bee pollen, propolis). These bees are generally easier to keep and produce very good honey. They don’t even sting. Stingless bees are known by various local names. Some of these names include kelulut (Malay), klanceng (Javanese), teuweul (Sundanese), galo-galo (Sulawesi), etc. According to the Indomalayan Stingless Bee Rasmussen catalog (2008), there are 35 species of stingless bees in Indonesia.

Stingless bees live in colonies with clear division of labor (eusocial). A colony consists of one or more queens, hundreds of male bees, and thousands of sterile female bees. The queen’s task is to lay eggs to produce new offspring. The male bees’ task is solely to mate. Meanwhile, the sterile female bees have various tasks such as collecting food, guarding the nest, and caring for the queen, male bees, and young bees.

Contributor:

Sidiq Harjanto