BackgroundThe Quilombola communities of Ipiranga and Gurugi, located in Atlantic Rainforest in Southern of Paraíba state, have stories that are interwoven throughout time. The practice of meliponicultura has been carried out for generations in these social groups and provides an elaborate ecological knowledge based on native stingless bees, the melliferous flora and the management techniques used. The traditional knowledge that Quilombola have of stingless bees is of utmost importance for the establishment of conservation strategies for many species.MethodsTo deepen study concerning the ecological knowledge of the beekeepers, the method of participant observation together with structured and semi-structured interviews was used, as well as the collection of entomological and botanical categories of bees and plants mentioned. With the aim of recording the knowledge related to meliponiculture previously exercised by the residents, the method of the oral story was employed.Results and discussionResults show that the informants sampled possess knowledge of twelve categories of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini), classified according to morphological, behavioral and ecological characteristics. Their management techniques are represented by the making of traditional cortiço and the melliferous flora is composed of many species predominant in the Atlantic Rainforest. From recording the memories and recollections of the individuals, it was observed that an intricate system of beliefs has permeated the keeping of uruçu bees (Melipona scutellaris) for generations.ConclusionAccording to management techniques used by beekeepers, the keeping of stingless bees in the communities is considered a traditional activity that is embedded within a network of ecological knowledge and beliefs accumulated by generations over time, and is undergoing a process of transformation that provides new meanings to such knowledge, as can be observed in the practices of young people.

BackgroundAccording to the biophilia hypothesis, an emotional affiliation with nature has been inherited during human biocultural evolution. Research on beekeeping can contribute to the scientific understanding of the influence of emotions in the human-nature relationship, since this activity provides concrete experiences of beneficial interaction between the human being and the environment by stimulating conservation-friendly values among practitioners. In this study, we investigated motivations and preferences driving beekeepers’ choices. We hypothesized that emotional criteria would be the main motivators in choosing to include beekeeping into small-scale farming systems. We also assumed that, once beekeeping has been chosen, the preference among species of bees for raising would also be influenced mainly by emotional criteria.MethodsData were collected from free lists and semi-structured interviews with 52 keepers of stingless bees from Sítio Xixá in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The content analysis technique was used to analyze data from interviews. The underlying criteria for motivation and preference quoted in the free lists were analyzed with Smith’s Salience Index.ResultsEmotional and esthetic criteria were the most salient motivations for choosing beekeeping as one of the activities in small-scale farming systems. On the other hand, honey productivity and bee behavior were the most salient criteria for the preference for certain bee species to be kept.ConclusionsEmotional criterion had an especially notable influence on the motives for practicing beekeeping, but not on the preference of species to be raised. This demonstrates that the scenario under study represents a panorama of multiple influences in which emotions are one, but not the only, important component. Finally, our results indicate that the emotional domain should be taken into account in environmental education efforts and in the planning of bee management and nature conservation policies.