Socio-cultural practices on the use of beetle grubs as food and feed in western Kenya

Publication Type

Journal Article

Journal Name

African Journal of Ecology

Publication Date

2-1-2024

Abstract

Stingless bees are important pollinators and producers of honey used in folk medicine. We investigate the nectar sources for two Afrotropical stingless bee species, Hypotrigona araujoi and Meliponula ferruginea. Pollen was extracted and processed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods, DNA metabarcoding. Results show that stingless bees visited 32 plant genera. Wild plants were the major nectar sources for the two stingless bees' species. The diversity of plants visited and honey physical–chemical characteristics differed between the two bee species, suggesting that they use comparable spectra of host plants. This information should help prioritise the conservation of identified forage plants.

Keywords

biodiversity, conservation, Kenya

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