There has been a long standing tradition of stingless bee, Meliponula beccarii ( M. beccarii ), honey hunting in Ethiopian farming communities. However, attempt has not been made to domesticate and manage stingless bees for sustainable harvest of the products. Domestication trial of M. beccarii in different hives types were conducted for colony adaptation. For this purpose, a total of 33 stingless bee colonies excavated from wild nests were transferred into five UTOB, 10 rectangular box and 18 pot hives. All of the colonies transferred to UTOB and rectangular box hives were absconded within six months of their establishment, indicating a 100% failure of M. beccarii domestication in wooden box hives set above the ground. However, among 18 stingless bee colonies transferred into pot hives and placed under the ground, 16 (88.9%) were adapted and successfully domesticated. Two season honey yield was harvested from pot hived colonies using disposable syringe and the average honey yield/colony/year was 1.10 ± 0.20 L that ranges from 90 ml – 3 L/colony. Moreover, the average volume of honey/honey pot was estimated to be 6.26 ± 1.08 ml. Furthermore, the nests of M. beccarii were protected with an average of 6.87 ± 0.65 guard bees/nest. Therefore, this study demonstrated for the first time that the possibility of M. beccarii domestication using pot hives for the sustainable honey production and conservation of this native bee species in Ethiopia. Although the current results highlighted the possibility of M. beccarii domestication for sustainable honey production, more research is needed on how to manage, multiply them, on the best way of honey harvesting technique and use of these bees for pollination services.

中文翻译：

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埃塞俄比亚本土无刺蜂（蜜蜂科：Meliponula beccarii）驯化和保护的不同蜂巢设计评估

埃塞俄比亚农业社区有着悠久的无刺蜂 (Meliponula beccarii ( M. beccarii )) 采蜜传统。然而，尚未尝试驯化和管理无刺蜜蜂以实现产品的可持续收获。为了适应菌落，对不同类型蜂巢中的 M. beccarii 进行了驯化试验。为此，从野生巢穴中挖掘出的总共 33 个无刺蜂群被转移到 5 个 UTOB、10 个矩形箱和 18 个盆栽蜂箱中。所有转移到 UTOB 和矩形箱式蜂箱的菌落都在其建立后的六个月内潜逃，表明在地上的木箱式蜂箱中驯化贝卡氏菌 100% 失败。然而，在 18 个转移到盆栽蜂箱中并置于地下的无刺蜂群中，有 16 个（88. 9%) 被适应并成功驯化。使用一次性注射器从盆栽蜂巢中收获两季蜂蜜产量，平均蜂蜜产量/蜂群/年为 1.10 ± 0.20 L，范围为 90 ml – 3 L/蜂群。此外，蜂蜜/蜜罐的平均体积估计为 6.26 ± 1.08 毫升。此外，M. beccarii 的巢穴受到保护，平均为 6.87 ± 0.65 只卫蜂/巢。因此，这项研究首次证明了使用盆栽蜂箱驯化贝卡氏菌的可能性，以实现埃塞俄比亚这种本地蜜蜂物种的可持续蜂蜜生产和保护。虽然目前的结果强调了驯化贝卡氏菌以实现可持续蜂蜜生产的可能性，但需要更多的研究来了解如何管理、繁殖它们，