ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bee Sci.
Sec. Bees in Pollination
This article is part of the Research TopicWomen in Bee ScienceView all 9 articles
Stingless Bees in Coffee: Yield Gains and Assessing Neonicotinoid Impact
Provisionally accepted
Jenifer Dias Ramos1*
Gustavo Souza Santos2
Charles Fernando Dos Santos3Thamires Sá De Oliveira Kaminski2Ana Paola Cione2
Denise Araujo Alves4Fernando Celso Longhim Quenzer1Alistair John Campbell5Andrigo Monroe Pereira6
Helen Thompson7Ana Carolina Martins De Queiroz1
José Mauricio Simões Bento4
Cristiano Menezes1- 1Embrapa Meio Ambiente, Jaguariuna, Brazil
- 2Syngenta Protecao de Cultivos Ltda, São Paulo, Brazil
- 3Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
- 4Universidade de Sao Paulo Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Piracicaba, Brazil
- 5Natural England, Kendal, United Kingdom
- 6Eurofins Agroscience Services, Indaiatuba, Brazil
- 7Syngenta Ltd, Bracknell, United Kingdom
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Coffee production relies heavily on pollination services, yet the impact of managed pollinators and pesticide use on yield and pollinator health remains understudied. We investigated the effects of supplemental pollination by the stingless bee Scaptotrigona depilis on coffee yields and assessed the impact of thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid insecticide, on bee colony strength in Brazilian coffee farms. Stingless bee colonies were introduced to conventional and organic farms, and coffee yield was measured near and far from these colonies. We also monitored colony strength parameters and quantified pesticide residues in plant tissues and bee-collected flower resources. Results showed that S. depilis significantly increased coffee yield by 67% in areas close to bee colonies. Despite detectable low levels of thiamethoxam and its metabolite clothianidin in leaves, nectar, and pollen, no significant negative effects were observed on brood production or mortality in colonies on conventional farms compared to organic farms. Foraging activity showed some variations between farm types previous to the exposure of bees to coffee flowers, and this parameter normalized over time. Our findings suggest that managed stingless bees can substantially enhance coffee yields without being significantly impaired by current label-compliant neonicotinoid use. This study provides valuable insights for developing sustainable coffee production practices that balance productivity with pollinator conservation.
Keywords: crop pollination, integrated pest and pollinator management, Native bees, sustainable agriculture, coffea arabica, Scaptorigona depilis
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ramos, Santos, Fernando Dos Santos, Sá De Oliveira Kaminski, Cione, Alves, Celso Longhim Quenzer, Campbell, Pereira, Thompson, Martins De Queiroz, Bento and Menezes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jenifer Dias Ramos
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