Honey. When people think about bees, the Western or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) most often comes to mind as this species has been propagated on every continent except for Antarctica. What is less well known is that there are over 20,000 species of bees in the world, and the vast majority neither make honey nor live in hives. However, here in Costa Rica, there are native stingless bees that do both and also serve as important pollinators for the diverse plant population of the region. They belong to the same Family as the Western honey bee – Apidae, but they are in a Tribe called Meliponini, meaning “honey laborers.” The honey of stingless bees has been used for both culinary and medicinal purposes since ancient times. The Mayans engaged in extensive stingless bee keeping on a large scale for centuries.

In Costa Rica, there are several species of stingless bees that continue to be cultivated:

Mariola (Tetragonisca angustula ) which are also known as Angelitas. These are very small, non-aggressive bees that make small quantities of honey that is said to have important medicinal qualities including its use as eye drops for ocular infections.

Soncuano (Scaptotrigona pectoralis). These bees are more prolific honey producers, but can also be more defensive if their hives are threatened. They may crawl into your hair and under your clothes, delivering a mildly uncomfortable bite. Swatting at them causes them to release a pheromone that triggers this response from the hive. In general, they are not aggressive and can live close to humans without conflict.

Jicote Gato (Melipona beecheii). The sacred bee of the Maya, this species has been cultivated in Central America and Mexico for over 3000 years. The hive can produce up to 2Kg of a delicious, low density honey per year. The jicote gato bee resembles the traditional honey bee and is non aggressive. There has been a significant decline in the population of this species in the last 30 years. 

Jicote Barcino (Melipona costaricaensis). It is the bee of Costa Rica!  Slightly smaller than the regular honeybee and darker in color, this docile species produces  up to 2 liters per year of a delicious low density floral honey. This bee is relatively rare and finding a sample of this honey is no easy task. 

Jicote Congo (Melipona fallax). This is the largest and rarest of the Central American stingless bees. It has very specific environmental needs and can only be found in tropical rainforests. Jicote Congo is not easily domesticated and there is no commercial honey production of any volume for this species.  The honey is reportedly similar to the jicote gato honey. 

Since 2018, bee keeping experts Andy Krell and Rusty Davis have been instrumental in the promotion of stingless bee keeping in the region around Esterones including Sámara and Nosara. Like many bees around the world, the stingless bees of Costa Rica are in decline due to a complexity of reasons including deforestation and the overuse of pesticides. In an effort to support these crucial pollinators, Andy and Rusty have been teaching family and friends to keep stingless bees, providing nesting boxes, casitas, and knowhow to dozens of residents in the region. Educating the public about the critical role of stingless bees in maintaining the health of the abundant local plant population is a major goal of their work.

If you are interested in keeping stingless bees and live locally, contact Andy Krell for more information:

If you would like to know more about the bees in our area, the following book (written in Spanish) is free and extremely informative: