A National Geographic Explorer, Vásquez Espinoza wanted to study the medicinal properties of their unusual honey but ended up discovering that the bees provided even more benefits to the area. She found they pollinated indigenous plants and offered an income source for local people, particularly during the struggles of the pandemic.

Vásquez Espinoza talked to Treehugger about what she finds so interesting about stingless bees, the value of their honey, and the challenges she faced while studying them.

Treehugger: What was the impetus for your research?

I learned that the tiniest creatures in the jungle, from boiling river microbes to native stingless bees, sustain the life we see around us, and I was shocked to realize how little we knew about them. In times when we can easily go to the moon, we still have not explored what’s below our feet. 

How did you become interested in stingless bees? What about meliponines makes them so fascinating?

How little we know about them from all angles, especially the genetic and chemical level, made me become interested in stingless bees. Then I fell in love with the bees by learning that besides their medicinal, agricultural, and economical value, they have become an important cultural pillar of the communities. Many families live so close to the bees that they aim to live their lives like them—as a group, supporting each other, each playing an important role for the benefit of the entire group. 

How did you study them and what challenges did you face?

We traveled to Iquitos [in Peru] in December 2021 to meet some of the beekeeping families to learn about the process of growing the bees and harvesting the honey. I was interested in understanding the composition of the beehive, how often they produce honey, how the honey looks, and where it gets stored—all to be able to start hypothesizing how the honey becomes medicinal to guide the research studies we will be carrying out later on.

The main challenge in the jungle is water transportation—we had to interrupt our travels from time to time due to intense rain and weather conditions and to go between communities and families, sometimes you need to travel by boat for up to 12 hours. Also, ironically, at the end of our shooting with the native stingless bees, we got stung by wasps! It was a painfully funny anecdote.

How do people use their honey? 

People use the native stingless bees’ honey for food and medicine. They use it to treat a variety of upper respiratory infections and stomach illnesses. In fact, there are records that tribes had traditional medicinal knowledge of honey since before the Spaniards came to South America.

Did you try it? Are people staunch supporters of its value?

People are increasingly becoming staunch supporters of its value. Scientific studies on the honey and the bees help increase appreciation of the bees and their honey, and now selling local honey has become an important sustainable economic resource for communities that got drastically impacted by the lack of tourism during COVID shutdowns. 

What impact do they have on plants and local communities? Why are they important?

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