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Bees called meliponas (family Apidae, tribe Meliponini) are native stingless bees (ANSA) whose products (honey and other elements from the hive) have been employed by various indigenous and peasant cultures since ancient times. This study lists the native honeybee species known to criollos from northwest Córdoba. It also analyzes in particular the relationship between peasants living in three different environments in the region and the uses they assign to Plebeia molesta honey. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 42 key interlocutors. To analyze the obtained information qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Local people recognize 4 native melliferous insects, being the one called "quella" the most important. Its honey is used mainly for medicinal purposes and as food. The predominant use as medicine is ingestion in pure form (45%) and the most frequently treated conditions are those related to the respiratory system (88.53%). In relation to the changes perceived in the availability of this resource, 75% of the interlocutors considered that the frequency of nest encounters has decreased in the last decades. The assigned uses of honey show a high variability in relation to the sociocultural and occupational characteristics of the inhabitants. It is concluded that this honey is a valuable resource for farmers in the region. Given the perceived decrease of these populations, management and conservation strategies should be implemented that, incorporating the peasant point of view, guarantee their accessibility and perpetuity.

The sensory quality of a food is related to its characteristics and the consumer's ethno-social and idiosyncratic conditions. In this study, honeys from three different environments in the Chaco region of Córdoba (Argentina) were described qualitatively and quantitatively by specialized evaluators and peasants. Honeys with a wide diversity of sensory attributes were evidenced. The samples from Salinas Coast were characterized by high fluidity, those from Serrano Forest by quantity of crystals, and those from Plain Forest by the greatest persistence of taste. The rural population distinguished honey from Apis mellifera (Linnaeus, 1758), Plebeia nov. sp. (Schwarz, 1938) and Plebeia molesta (Puls, 1869), and described them differentially. At the same time, the peasants used shared descriptors for P. molesta honeys of similar geographical origin, and consumers preference was 87.5%. We conclude that the sensory components of P. molesta honeys allow their differentiation from the honeys of other melliferous insects and according to the environment of origin. Alsothat the selection of this product as a favorite could be modeled by idiosyncratic factors of the peasants, such as their place of residence and the medicinal properties they attribute to it. Finally, we integrate and discuss the present results with antecedents of this research within the framework of the Socio-ecological Maximization Theory, in an approach to better understand the interaction between local consumers and NSBs.

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