The Secret of the Stingless Bees

For the average consumer, honey is just one type, produced by a single kind of bee, that black and yellow one that, in swarm form, chased cartoon characters, the bees from the hives that Winnie The Pooh dreamed of, the Apis Mellifera; however, this is one of over a thousand in the world of honey-producing bees.

Beekeeping began to attract my attention when one of my best friends decided to raise bees at his home in Chicago. I then followed the news about them; in 2016, Tom Philpott warned of the disappearance of large quantities of these pollinators due to neonicotinoid pesticides (1). A couple of years later, we heard about stingless bees when there was again concern about the use of pesticides and the decline of bee populations in Mexico (2). On a recent trip to Brazil, I had the opportunity to meet Eugênio Gomes Basile, protector of meliponine bees and producer of honey and honey products, who showed us what he markets through his brand Mbee. On the same trip, we visited an olive oil producer who told us about renting hives to pollinate crops, which reminded me of a recent news story where hives were stolen. (3)

How long has honey existed?

Rock paintings from 7000 B.C. show records of beekeeping; however, there are fossils of bees dating back 150 million years (4). Their “magical” properties and versatility have given them positions in history. The Egyptians used it as a sweetener, a gift to the gods, and a liquid for embalming, with earlier records in 2400 B.C. near Cairo, where bees appeared in hieroglyphics as offerings to the pharaoh.

The Greeks viewed honey as food and medicine; their recipes are full of sweets, cakes, and cheeses with honey described in one of Euripides' dramas in the fifth century B.C. as “entirely immersed in the rich golden honey of bees” (5).

The Romans used it as a gift to the gods and in cooking, so beekeeping flourished during their empire, and when Christianity was established, the production of honey and beeswax increased due to the demand for candles for the churches.

With the arrival of sugar during the European Renaissance, honey began to be used less; however, bees were considered to have special powers and were used as a symbol. Pope Urban VIII used them as an emblem; even the flag carried by Napoleon had a row of bees flying in line, and his robes were embroidered with bees.

In our continent

Worldwide, the history of honey as medicine is extensive; there are records that it has been used as a balm, intoxicant, and even poison. For thousands of years, indigenous peoples of tropical regions have harvested honey from dozens of species of bees, many of them stingless known as “meliponine bees,” which are restricted to tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia, Australia, and America, but they are more diverse and numerous in South America.

These insects function socially with one queen and many workers; they cannot sting, making them less dangerous to raise than European bees, but although they lack stingers, some can bite.

Due to the wide variety of stingless species, the breeding of these insects can be complex. The Maya developed methods to raise these bees in the Yucatán Peninsula with practices that survive to this day, with many unchanged; indigenous peoples harvested from wild hives, and in Brazil, we learned about the widespread and sophisticated meliponiculture in the continent country.

It is estimated that there are over 400 different species in America (6), located in forested areas, mostly at low and medium altitudes, but some in the high Andean forests over 2000 meters above sea level. These are raised artisanally in wooden boxes, logs, or hives designed for the extraction of wax, honey, or pollen, and in each country, they are recognized by different names. A very common and widely distributed species is known as “Ramichi” in Peru, “Jatay” in Brazil, “Mariquita” or “Mariola” in Costa Rica, and “Angelita” or “Virgencita” in Colombia.

Meliponine bees produce honey with chemical substances that prevent the growth of fungi and microbes, an adaptation that prevents their honey from spoiling in the tropics. Given the vast biodiversity of plants in the Amazon and the botanical chemicals that bees mix in their honeys and waxes, it is not surprising that it holds great medicinal value; in fact, this honey is known as “miracle liquids” (7).

The importance of bees

Unlike “Apis mellifera,” stingless bees store their honey in special compartments in the hive called “honeypots,” allowing easy access for extracting the liquid. This provides a constant source of income for beekeepers without affecting them.

These bees are more selective when pollinating; they prefer native plants, making them important for the health of their ecosystem. Among their favorite plants in Loreto are the resin tree, from which they use the resin to build their hives, as well as achiote and camu camu. Studies show that when they are kept near crop fields, they can help increase yields by almost fifty percent.

This offers an alternative to commercial beekeeping, in which each hive is moved to pollinate entire crops, causing significant losses of workers and stress in the hives.

The flavor

The honey from Apis Mellifera receives its flavor from the pollination process; for example, if the bee pollinates eucalyptus, avocados, or flowers, the flavor is different. In contrast, the flavor of honey from meliponine bees results from the enzymatic process of each species, making it unique. In Brazil, we were able to taste 12 different varieties and see the work they do to promote knowledge about these species, as well as the consumption of their honeys with flavor profiles ranging from floral sweetness, citrus, acidic, herbal, to dairy-like, such as cheese, each coming from diverse regions of that country.

Marketing honeys by species, by-products like pollen, waxes, or in mead preparations, together with the multiplication of boxes for raising these bees in urban gardens and in major hotels and restaurants, raises awareness about their existence and the need to protect these pollinators.

Uses in Mater

When I tried the non-alcoholic pairing at Central, I was presented with a drink with “honey of the tree,” one of the local names given to these honeys because meliponine bees in the wild use fallen trees as their nests. They work with the support of various communities in the San Martín region, in Chazuta and San Genaro in Iquitos in the Loreto region, using honeys of specific profiles that are crafted in Casa Tupac and adapted in pairings. The consistency of this, the sweetness, and the unique flavor profiles are exceptional elements in cocktail preparations.

From the bar, a digestive cocktail called Selva Baja is offered, combining these honeys with rough lemon and Mater cane. The Lulo cocktail and rum from Kjolle, or the cocktail with black chili and Amazonian Spirits, are cocktails that explore the properties of honey. Additionally, the Coastal Hils distillate, developed by Mater liquids, uses honey of the tree from Piura as well as fruits from the regions of Cajamarca, Lambayeque, and Trujillo. These preparations allow honey to reach distant settings like the MAZ restaurant in Japan or itinerant experiences like MASL in Singapore in 2022.

The tree honey allows the development of gastronomy in various parts of the chain, contributing to the health of the ecosystem by using local pollinators to increase production. It stimulates the economy of communities that use products from these insects as additional sources of income, and in the preparations, they add complexity of flavor and texture.

Sources:

(1) KCRW Good Food, Investigating the Health of Honeybees
(2) Sadie Witkowski - Mexico's Endangered Stingless Bees Mysteriously Find A Sweeter Home In Cuba
(3) Elina Shatkin and Andrea Domanick - Trucking Bees and Beehives
(4) British Honey Importers and Packers Association - History
(5) Hilda M. Ransome - The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore
(6) Claus Rasmussen and Cesar Delgado - Stingless Bees in Loreto Peru
(7) Douglas Main - These stingless bees make medicinal honey. Some call it a ‘miracle liquid.’

IG: @danielquintero
Photos: Camila Novoa @camil