Abstract Nest establishment in stingless bees (Meliponini) is understudied, with observations reported for only about 13 of the approximately 600 species globally. Unlike Apis honey bees (Apini), which start daughter colonies abruptly during a single swarming event, stingless bees establish new nests progressively and daughter colonies receive ongoing support from the parent colony for a period. Here I describe nest establishment for the Australian stingless bee Tetragonula carbonaria in a suburban landscape in South East Queensland, reporting on detailed observations throughout the process at both daughter and parent nests. Daughter nest establishment took 125 days, lasting from early spring to mid-summer. Worker bees travelled between parent and daughter nests, progressively constructing the nest. Throughout, workers carried propolis, wax and resin in their corbicula and honey and pollen internally from parent to daughter nest. A new queen arrived at the daughter nest early in the process, and the daughter colony began to raise young. By the time observable parental support ceased, the daughter colony was a populous, thriving independent colony with extensive propolis structures, food, wax and resin stores, thousands of workers, a reigning queen, had a large brood mass and had completed two full brood rearing cycles. The process reported here is the first for an Australian stingless bee species and while only a single case, it fits the broad understanding of the nest establishment approach taken by stingless bees globally, with a gradual long-term nest construction process with prolonged parental nest support.
Tobias J. Smith (Sat,) studied this question.