SOLATINA: A Latin-American Society for Bee Research to Foster the Interactions Between Scientists and Coordinate Large-Scale Research Programs

ANTÚNEZ, KARINA; REQUIER?, FABRICE; BRANCHICCELA?, BELÉN; PABLO PORRINI, MARTIN

BEE WORLD

aylor & Francis on behalf of the International Bee Research Association

Lugar: Groombridge; Año: 2018 vol. 95 p. 124 - 127

0005-772X

Bees (members of the super familyApoidea) are the main pollinators inmodern agro-ecosystems, where they havea critical positive effect on yield improvementfor about 75% of world´s crops(Klein et al., 2007; Potts et al., 2016).However, there is evidence of a worldwidedecline in the populations of wild bees,and numerous reports of high colonylosses of managed bees, which maydisrupt crop pollination, honey productionand the reproduction of bee-pollinatedwild plants (Potts et al., 2010),leading to negative social, economic andecological effects (Potts et al., 2016). LatinAmerica (hereafter, LA) is home to about8 million managed honey bee colonies(Apis mellifera L.) which produce morethan 200000 tons of honey annually(FAOSTAT, 2018). Several Latin Americancountries are among the global top 20 interms of honey production and beehivesstock, such as Argentina, Brazil andMexico (García, 2018; Requier et al.,2018). Moreover, LA hosts a unique faunaof native bees, with about 5,000 identifiedspecies, including 391 species of the nativestingless bees in the tribu Meliponini(Camargo & Pedro, 2008; Freitas et al.,2009). Some of those native stingless beesare managed since ancient times to produce honey through the practice of?Meliponiculture? (Jaffé et al., 2015). LatinAmerican bee research has contributed toimprove our understanding of problemsrelevant for apiculture, bee diversity andthe causes of bee population decline in theregion among other topics (see e.g., Maggiet al., 2016; Morales, Arbetman, Cameron,& Aizen, 2013; Vandame & Palacio, 2010).These scientific achievements are mostlythe result of research efforts led by groupsworking independently rather than theproduct of cooperative research effortsbetween different countries. We argue thatthe strength, impact, and relevance ofthese research efforts, for apiculture andbees in the region, can be improved bypromoting interactions between LatinAmerican bee scientists and coordinatinglarge-scale research programs.