Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A macro image of the hive of a colony of stingless bees. in this image the specie is the Uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata).

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. Boa Vista Da Acará, Brazil. A view of the Guamá River, where the community breeding stingless bees is based.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the Inga (Inga Vera) flower. The Inga tree has the capability of restore the soil fertility after the rainforest burning.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A macro image of the hive of a colony of stingless bees. in this image the specie is the Uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata).

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023.A macro image of the hive of a colony of stingless bees. in this image the specie is the Uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata).

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the Urucu (Bixa Orellana) fruit. The indigenous people use the fruit for culinary, and painting.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A view of a local açai shop. The local farmers have small açai cultivation that are their main income. The açai is sold and consumed locally. The honey production is a side income respect the main activities. The stingless bee’s hives request a low management and maintenance and the bees are easy to handle since they don’t sting. The native Brazilian stingless bees are fundamental for maintenance of the ecosystem; especially today, that with climate change and deforestation the Amazon Forest is at risk the stingless bees act as protector of the forest allowing new trees to grow and replace the ones that disappeared because of the human hand. The bees colonies aren’t captured from the wild but are multiply from a Melliponiculture breeding site managed by the NGO.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A portrait of a meliponiculturist of the community of Boa Vista do Acará. The members of the Community are small farmers with lower income, the honey production is a side income respect the main activities. The stingless bee’s hives request a low management and maintenance and the bees are easy to handle since they don’t sting. The native Brazilian stingless bees are fundamental for maintenance of the ecosystem; especially today, that with climate change and deforestation the AmazonForest is at risk the stingless bees act as protector of the forest allowing new trees to grow and replace the ones that disappeared because of the human hand. The bees colonies aren’t captured from the wild but are multiply from a Melliponiculture breeding site managed by the NGO.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A portrait of a meliponiculturist of the community of Boa Vista do Acará. The members of the Community are small farmers with lower income, the honey production is a side income respect the main activities. The stingless bee’s hives request a low management and maintenance and the bees are easy to handle since they don’t sting. The native Brazilian stingless bees are fundamental for maintenance of the ecosystem; especially today, that with climate change and deforestation the Amazon Forest is at risk the stingless bees act as protector of the forest allowing new trees to grow and replace the ones that disappeared because of the human hand. The bees colonies aren’t captured from the wild but are multiply from a Melliponiculture breeding site managed by the NGO.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A view of the NGO meliponary used to duplicate the stingless bees colonies. A reproduction meliponary is foundamental to avaid the capture of wild colonies.Only in this way it is possible to increase the number of stingless bees present in the ecosystem.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the Urucu (Bixa Orellana) flower. The indigenous people use the fruit for culinary, and painting.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A macro image of the hive of a colony of stingless bees. in this image the specie is the Uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata).

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the Cacau (Theobroma cacao) fruit.

Boa Vista Da Acará, Brazil. A view of the Guamá River, where the community breeding stingless bees is based.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the Cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum) flower.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A macro image of the hive of a colony of stingless bees. in this image the specie is the Uruçu-cinzenta (Melipona fasciculata).

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A Still life images of the açaí (Euterpe oleracea) fruit. The açaí soup is a typical dish of the Amazon riverside region, it is usually consumed with fried fish and manioca flower. Most of the açaí collected near Belem is consumed locally.

Boa Vista Da Acará, 2023. A view of a tree located near the reproduction meliponary.

The planet bee: Meliponiculture in the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest harbors 40000 species of plants and its immense biodiversity is the result of a complex ecosystem of animals, insects and humans. In Brazil there are around 259 species of stingless bees of the 550 recognized worldwide; the Northern region of the country is the richest in term of the biodiversity being home of 197 different species of native stingless bees. The hive of the stingless bees (Meliponini) has an extremely strange structure, very different if compared to the one built by the Apis Mellifera (European bees). Despite their vast biodiversity, native stingless bees are an endangered species and have been protected from extinction by local beekeepers (meliponiculturist) for honey’s production, undertaking a significant effort to preserve biodiversity in the Amazon Rainforest and also developing a sustainable local economy. Meliponiculture is a socially, environmentally, and economically crucial activity, particularly in in the Amazonian regions of Brazil, as the construction of a meliponary does not require high investments and the activity can be carried out by beekeepers of all ages, including children and elderly people, in close proximity of residential areas, since many species of native stingless bees do not present any risk for the surrounding communities.

Deforestation, pollution, and climate change are deeply mutating the Earth, putting in danger the survival of plants, animals, insects as well as threatening the life of human beings. The Anthropocene is transforming the Earth in a planet where the immense variety of species are becoming aliens within their very own native environment. In the Amazon Rainforest, the human presence and the very ideia of nature as a resource to be exploited are causing a dramatic destruction of its biodiversity and therefore a massive insects extinction. The native stingless bees are fighting to preserve the forest, ensuring the survival of biodiversity and the life of local communities. In a upside-down World, the meliponiculture in the Amazon Rainforest become a World apart, a sort of new planet where species alienated from the Earth can finally survive and flourish. The strange landscapes of the hives of native stingless bees – mimicking a geological structure of a remote new planet –, as well as the unfamiliar Amazonian native flowers appears as new aliens that instead of invading the Earth are, in fact, striving to survive and, in so doing, possibly saving us and the Earth. Hopefully this will be our one and only Planet Bee.

The planet bee: Meliponiculture in the Amazon rainforest

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