Stingless-bee protection effort gets legal teeth

Heriberto Vela examines a hivenear his home in San Francisco, on the Marañón River near Nauta, Peru. (Photo by Barbara Fraser)

One of the first things a visitor sees along the path to Heriberto Vela’s house in the tiny community of San Francisco, on Peru’s Marañón River, is a hand-lettered sign: “Remember that without bees there is no life.” Nearby is a scattering of small square boxes on platforms mounted on poles, each with a tin or palm-thatch roof resembling those of the houses in this Amazonian community. You have to look closely to see the activity—a constant stream of bees, some so tiny that half a dozen or more would fit on your fingernail, buzzing in and out of the boxes where they’ve built their hives. Vela’s hives house five species of bees of different colors and sizes, all native to the Amazon and all without stingers, although they can bite with their tiny teeth if annoyed. Small enough to be easily overlooked amid the vegetation, they... Read more →