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Distribution
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Angola, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia,
Eritrea, Gabon, Kenya, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe |
Biology
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The haven of stingless sweat bees
is shown above. Here their nest, laden with honey and bee larvae, is exposed inside
a dead branch in the Gabonese jungle. Note cells are capped unlike
honey bee combs where the cells are open. Local BaAka Pygmies harvest
the pungent and intensely flavoured honey, considered to be a
delicacy by those not averse to imbibing the sweat of others. These
bees are a nuisance in the tropics feasting on sweat from humans for
the high salt content.
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References
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Eardley, C.D. 2004. Taxonomic revision of the African stingless bees (Apoidea: Apidae: Apinae:
Meliponini). African Plant Protection 10: 63–96.
Eardley, C & Urban, R. 2010. Catalogue
of Afrotropical bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Apiformes).
Zootaxa 2455: 1-548.
Eardley, C, Finnamore, A.T. & Michener, C.D. 1993. Superfamily Apoidea (pp.
279-357). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World:
an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture
Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.
Michener, C.D. 2000. The Bees of the World. Johns Hopkins
University Press. 953 pp. |
Credits
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Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa)
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