2024: Increasing Equity and Promoting Climate Resiliency for Low-income Families Through Stingless Beekeeping in the Flooded Savannah of the Orinoquia Basin
For centuries, native farmers in the Neotropics have gathered honey from Melipona bees, a genus of stingless bees that build their homes in hollowed logs. However, as large-scale cattle ranching and rice monoculture farms grow, and climate change disrupts precipitation patterns, bee populations are falling. Cornell researchers, external university partners, and ABC Colombia, a non-profit organization focused on research, conservation and governance in the Orinoquia region of Colombia, will study whether nutritional supplementation of Melipona favosa bee colonies could help stabilize populations and honey production, and support the small-scale subsistence farmers who rely on Melipona honey.
Investigator: Katja Poveda (Cornell CALS/Entomology)