Community-Based Approach to Sustainable Stingless Beekeeping in Sorsogon, Philippines

Stingless beekeeping technology as an alternative livelihood in the Bicol region involves hunters, beekeepers, and assemblers of bee products. However, development and adoption of the technology could lead to overexploitation of feral colonies by hunters, imperiling the population of this endemic species. This project mainly aimed to help communities in Sorsogon province to adopt beekeeping as a livelihood using a sustainable utilization, management, and development approach for the conservation of the species. The specific objectives were to: (1) document ethnological/meliponicultural practices in Sorsogon, (2) determine the diversity and abundance of the stingless bee population in two municipalities in Sorsogon, (3) facilitate knowledge transfer of stingless beekeeping technology, (4) facilitate meliponary establishment at the community level, and (5) develop a policy on conserving wild populations of stingless bees. The project was carried out in the municipalities of Casiguran and Bulusan in Sorsogon province from February 2013 to January 2016.