Stingless Bee

Trigona carbonaria

Did you know that there are Stingless Bees out there? How awesome! Bee stings stink! ...Though the name is a little bit misleading, as these 500 or so species are not the only bees out there with reduced stingers.

Stingless Bees can be found in Tropical and Subtropical regions around the world, like in Australia, Africa, and Southeast Asia. They belong to the Tribe Meliponini, and are active year round due to their warm environment.

Stingless bees actually do have stingers, but they are reduced to the point that they can't really be used effectively for defense.

Even though they lack stingers, these Bees still are able to perform the same pollinating and honey producing functions as their stinging cousins. They also have the benefit of not being susceptible to many of the parasites and diseases that stinging bees have. And did you know that Mayans kept Stingless Bees for honey production for thousands of years?

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Location : Tropical and Subtropical Areas
Size : Varies

Classification : Phylum : Arthropoda -- Class : Insecta -- Order : Hymenoptera
Superfamily : Apoidea -- Family : Apidae -- Subfamily : Apinae -- Tribe : Meliponini