Melipona beecheii

Melipona beecheii is a species of eusocial, stingless bees of the order Hymenoptera and the genus Melipona. It is native to Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula in the north to Costa Rica in the south. M. beecheii was cultivated in the Yucatán Peninsula starting in the pre-Columbian era by the ancient Maya civilization. The Mayan name for M. beecheii is 'xunan kab,' which translates roughly to 'regal lady bee.' M. beecheii once served as the subject of various Mayan religious ceremonies. Melipona beecheii is a member of the family Apidae of eusocial bees within the order Hymenoptera. The subfamily Meliponini is commonly referred to as 'stingless bees.' The genus Melipona contains nearly 50 other species. Melipona beecheii has a golden-yellowish and brown striped body with translucent wings attached to the back. It has a rounded body composed of a head, thorax, and abdomen, none of which are segmented, but rather are separated more subtly. Antennae protrude from the head and stick straight out. M. beecheii has small, white hairs covering the head, thorax, and abdomen. Queens, workers, and drones are all roughly the same size. Moreover, all members of the hive regardless of their future role develop in identical, mass-provisioned, sealed cells. This allows for self-determination of roles, the root of caste conflict within M. beecheii. Melipona beecheii is a tropical eusocial bee that has been observed in a variety of geographic locations with tropical climates. M. beecheii can be found in Central America, especially in the southern Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Melipona beecheii has been observed primarily in tropical forests, both humid and arid. M. beecheii builds its nests inside hollow cavities of trees and, as a result, has been seriously affected by deforestation. Moreover, there is increasing use of insecticides in the forest and decreasing interest in the ancient Mayan practice of beekeeping. Beekeepers who work with M. beecheii in the Mayan zone in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, have reported a 93% decrease in hives over the past twenty-five years. In M. beecheii, all females, even those designated to be workers, have the ability to develop as queens. As a result of this potential to self-determine, immature females may try to develop as queens in order to gain greater reproductive opportunities. When a colony's queen dies, or before the formation of new colonies by swarming, new queens are produced, only one of which is selected to serve in that function per colony. Workers kill the extra queens by biting off their heads, abdomens, and limbs. The average life expectancy of developing queens is 47 hours. Advantages to producing excess queens include the provision of spare queens in case of queen failure, and the ability to select the best queen from a pool of candidates.