BRACHYGASTRA MELLIFICA IS MAGNIFICENT

When we think about delicious honey, we always think of cute honeybees that work all day long to prepare it. We cherish them for their hard work and pollination activity but the fact is that the wild bees make more pollinator work than our cute honeybees. Nevertheless, we have even wasps that can make honey. I am sure you are surprised as much as I am thinking about the fact that there are wasps that are honey producers.

This kind of wasp is one of the primary pollinators of avocado in Mexico and it is known to share the characteristics of both species: bees and wasps. It is a part of Vespidae family and it is very social wasps. This further means that it lives in long colony and participate in social life of the group. The organization is very similar to common European honeybees. Those wasps love humidity so could be found in neotropical region and they have been spotted in America and Argentina. Their honey is considered to be pure delicacy in Mexican culture .

It is fascinating that those animals love to build their paper nests high in the skies or in the tropical trees where their colony can consists up to 18,000 wasps: “According to a study conducted on Brachygastra mellifica colonies, smaller colonies containing around 3,496 queens contained 60 queens, while larger colonies over 18,000 contained as many as 1,529 queens.”

They work together to build a nest and it could be done in few days . Their nests are perineal and they will be used longer time. In the meantime, they will collect nectar and make honey. They feed their larvae only with pollen and honey which is different from common wasps that use insects as source of protein. These wasps are considered very useful since they eliminate very bad insects that damage human agriculture but sometimes are prey themselves, being under attack from another bigger insects , birds or even people.

Their internal management works so that each queen mates only with one male. In one single queen colony will be new queen while in colonies with more queens will be males too, mixed. The colony usually is based on female workers and the queen reproduction is monitored carefully. If there is no need for new female working managers, the queen could lay male eggs.

They could sting if they want and they aren’t sacrificed for it . They live and can repeat the attack if necessary . That is the purpose of military power of the colony.

The wasps generally aren’t favorite insects and they do not have any chance comparing to beloved bees but they are great pollinators and useful participators of our ecosystem. Their presence reduce the presence of those creatures that are vectors for emerging diseases. We don’t cherish that enough but thinking of those wasps that even produce honey , can make us interested to give them a chance to be the part of our outdoor experiences.

The Mexican wasp has been known as successful pollinator in South and Central America even before the European queen of bees arrived on another continent.

The honey taste is a bit different than the one we know and enjoy but it reminds a bit as maple syrup. It is edible and remarkable. They little friends have no so much patience as honeybees but they aren’t always so angry as other wasps we usually encounter. They are somehow in the middle of being beloved for their honey and being hated that they are wasps , after all.

I find wasps very intelligent fellows and I am amazed each time I see they are in my garden or they have nest around. If you don’t bother them and you carry your own life, they won’t bother you either and they will show gratitude killing unwanted insects on your property.

The Mexican honey wasp is a unique proof that nature regulates all with high perfection. It’s sad that human race still didn’t learn to live and let other creatures live free.