Ecological and evolutionary drivers of stingless bee honey variation at
the global scale
Abstract
Stingless bee honey (SBH) is a prime natural product consumed and used
for diverse medicinal and traditional purposes by local communities
across the (sub-)tropics. The drivers of its compositional variation
within and among species remain poorly understood, although this could
inform broader and less explored eco-evolutionary theories. In this
study, we aimed to disentangle the roles of evolutionary and
environmental drivers of SBH compositional variation using a sampling
design that combines honey profiling by H1-NMR spectroscopy with the
collection of honeys from honey bees and stingless bees. Our results
show a clear differentiation between the chemical composition and
functional diversity of honey bee and stingless bee honeys, without
identifying a clear continental, phylogenetic or ecological pattern. We
provide the first global and comprehensive characterization of SBH
composition, a prerequisite for the establishment of standards for while
highlighting the need for more interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral
research.