Helping tropical and efficient agriculture Hainan thornless small bees are of great value

Thornless little bees collecting honey. Photo by reporter Long Yiqiang

In Hainan Baisha, Jianfengling and other places, there is a body length of only 3-5 mm, smaller than the fly bee, no sting needles do not sting people, this stingless bee is favored by the local people, the trunk hanging behind the house in front of the house may be hidden in a group of such "little elves", both used to collect the original ecological stingless honey to eat, but also as a "pet" to watch.

Dr. Wang Shijie of the Institute of Environment and Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences introduced that the stingless wasp belongs to the hymenoptera, the bee family, the genus of thornless bees, originated in Africa, and currently has more than 500 species of distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. In China, they occupy the primeval forest areas of Hainan and Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. Stingless wasp is an important resource insect that plays a very important role in promoting the coordinated development of agriculture, industry, medicine, environment and other fields.

Whether it is in tropical efficient agriculture or the development of beekeeper economy, its application value will be very large. Compared with other members of the bee family, the thornless bee has no stinging needles at the end of the abdomen, which is a group of "peace lovers". "In greenhouses or some farms and tropical orchards, some thornless bees can be put in, which can not only pollinate and inseminate plants, but also sting people can be used as ornamental animals, which has a great role in promoting efficient tropical agriculture." Wang Shijie said.

It is reported that compared with ordinary honey, thornless bee honey has the characteristics of large moisture, slightly sour taste, stronger aroma, lower reducing sugar content, etc., and is also known for its high medicinal value. Wang Shijie said that in the research and development of thornless bee products, the project team led by her has established thornless bee breeding demonstration bases in Danzhou, Jianfeng and Baisha, and has carried out several scientific research projects with yellow striped thornless bees and black-breasted thornless bees as the main source of bees, including research on thornless bee resource protection measures, genetic diversity analysis, thornless bee product analysis and development and utilization. At present, there is basically no team specializing in the study of stingless bees in China, and it can be said that the team led by him is the first team in China to study the thornless bee project.

Reporter Long Yiqiang correspondent Wu Huiyu

(Haikou Network, December 21)