Batwa Pygmies, who have traditionally harvested honey for food,
located 228 bee nests (both honeybees and stingless bees) for
the study. Roubik identified the bees and found that Pygmy names
for the bees corresponded to scientific names, except for a
black and a brown form of Meliponula ferruginea. Honeybee (Apis)
nests were numerous compared to other sites in the tropics,
whereas honey-making stingless bee nests were relatively scarce.
Nest abundance did not vary with altitude, nor did pollen
collection or the seasonality of flowering. Both honey bees and
stingless bees make honey. Apis mellifera, the most commonly
cultivated honeybee, is native to Europe and Africa. Apis
mellifera subspecies scutellata, the very defensive tropical
African honeybee, was transplanted from Africa to Brazil as part
of a scientific experiment to boost honey production in 1956.
From Brazil, it invaded the Americas, working its way northward
and is now found in southern U.S. states. Dave Roubik has
followed the progress of African