There is a high diversity of bees in the tropics, including honey bees and stingless bees, which are the main sources for honey and other ecosystem services. In Indonesia, beekeeping practices have been developed for centuries, and they have been part of many cultural practices in many traditional communities. The objective of this research was to study the beekeeping status and managed bee diversity in Indonesia and to investigate beekeepers’ perspectives on the factors and obstacles related to beekeeping. Direct interview and online interview were conducted to gain data on bees and beekeepers. In total, 272 beekeepers were interviewed across 25 provinces. Samplings of honey bees and stingless bees were also done during direct interviews for further identification and, when possible, pollen identification. All data and specimens were then sent to IPB Bogor for compilation and identification. We recorded 22 species of bees, including 3 species of honey bees and 19 species of stingless bees, that are reared by Indonesian beekeepers, with Apis cerana and Tetragonula laeviceps as the most common species. Our research also found that the majority of beekeepers fall into the category of the younger generation (30–39 years old) with educational background mostly from senior high school. Based on the beekeepers’ perspectives, there are several obstacles to beekeeping, especially the occurrence of death of bee foragers attributed to climate, food source, and pesticides. In conclusion, there is a need to develop a strategy for beekeeping and bee conservation in Indonesia, especially for adaptation and mitigation from environmental changes with a particular focus on climate and land-use change.

Global decline of pollinators, especially bees, has been documented in many countries. Several causes such as land-use change and agricultural intensification are reported to be the main drivers of the decline. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of land use on honey bee and stingless bee populations. Research was conducted in Bogor and Malang to compare between two different geographical areas. Managed bees such as honey bees (Apis cerana and A. mellifera) and stingless bees (Tetragonula laeviceps) were investigated to examine the effect of agricultural intensification. Field experiments were conducted by placing beehives in selected habitats (i.e., beekeeper gardens, forests areas, and agriculture areas). Population growth and neonicotinoid residue analysis of bees in different hive locations were measured to study the effect of habitat type. Population growth of bees represents the forager abundance and colony weight. Based on the analysis, we found that habitat type affected forager abundance and colony weight of honey bees (p < 0.05), although the patterns were different between species, region, as well as season. Forests could support the stingless bee colony better than agriculture and home garden habitats. Insecticide (neonicotinoid) was barely recorded in both honey bees and stingless bees.

Stingless bees, the smallest honey-producing bees, have high diversity with over 600 species in the world. Exploration at Bukit Barisan Sumatra found 23 species of stingless bees. However, stingless bee diversity in Belitung has not been explored and identified. This study aims to identify stingless bees based on morphology from Belitung. The methods used included the preservation of dry samples, characterization and identification of morphology based on: hind tibia, hind basitarsus, malar space, mandible, head, thorax, abdomen, and fore wing. A total of 12 stingless bee colonies were collected in Belitung. The study found three identified species of stingless bees in Belitung: Tetragonula laeviceps (colonies 1, 4, 5, 7, 8), Tetragonula aff. fuscobalteata (colonies 6, 11, 12), and Heterotrigona itama (colonies 2, 3, 9, 10). Body length, body color, eye color, abdominal color, mesoscutum, teeth in the mandible, malar space, wing length, wing venation and wing color are morphological characters that differentiate between the three species. Three morphometric parameters also differentiate between the three species, those are the width of hind basitarsus, malar space, and wing length. We also observed that T. aff. fuscobalteata show variations in the color of the eye and abdomen in all three colonies.

Aquatic insects have important role in food web and can be used as bio-indicators in aquatic ecosystems. Each aquatic insect has different tolerance value to environment condition in which only few species can survive in polluted ecosystems. Thus, lakes condition can be evaluated by using aquatic insects. One of purpose of this study is to assess the water quality in four situ using aquatic insects community as biotic index. Insects and abiotic data were sampled once a month for five months (January, February, March, June, and July 2016) in Situ Gede Systems including Situ Gede (SG), Situ Panjang (SP) and Situ Burung (SB), compare with Situ LSI (SL) as an excluding the system. Twelve sampling points of littoral zone were selected in each situ. Insects were captured by filtering fifty-liter water of situ using net with 50 µm mesh size. Abiotic factors such as pH, temperature, DO, and turbidity of water measured at each situ. During the study period, aquatic insect community was represented by a total 598 individual from 14 families. Corixidae and Notonectidae were the most dominant family in all situ. Based on Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI), all situ were fairly contaminated by organic compound.

An edible gastropod, Filopaludina javanica, is widely distributed in freshwater habitats. It was the most abundant gastropod species with variation on size at some lakes in Bogor. However, the relation between morphological size and heavy metal concentration in F. javanica is barely understood although gastropods are well known to accumulate heavy metal. The aim of the research is to measure the impact of concentration of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentration to the morphological size of F. javanica in Situ Gede, Bogor. Sampling of the species was carried out in February and April 2017 in Situ Gede (SG), Situ Panjang (SP), Situ Burung (SB) and Situ LSI (SL) while samples for heavy metal accumulation analysis were collected in January and February 2018 in SG. The morphological characteristics of the samples’ shell were measured. Body mass samples were powdered and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The average range of length and wide shells (mm) were 8.89-30.25 and 7.40-24.80, respectively. The average concentration of Pb and Cd were 0.82 and 0.11 ppm, respectively. The morphometric variability of the species varied among lakes while the concentration of Pb and Cd in this study was generally lower than the acceptable limit.

Worker bees actively forage to supply colony necessity i.e., pollens, nectar, and resin. Flight activities of the worker bees are influenced by food availability and environmental conditions. This study aimed to measure flight activities of Lepidotrigona terminata in terms of leaving and returning to the nest (including carrying of pollen and pollen type) and their relation to environmental conditions. The observation of flight activities of L. terminata were conducted from August to December 2016, at 07.00-17.00 for 1 minute with 1 hour interval. Pollen load and pollen types were analyzed by the acetolysis method. Flight activities of leaving and returning to the nest were lower at 07.00-08.00 (1 individual/min) and at 16.00-17.00 (2 individuals/min). However, the peak activities occurred at 10.00 until 13.00 (8 and 6 individuals/min for leaving and returning to the nest, respectively). Temperature and light intensity were positively correlated with flight activities of bees that carried nectar and resin, as well as leaving the nest without garbage. The returned workers averagely carried 32,696 pollen grains from four pollen types. Based on selection index values, this stingless bee species mostly preferred Araceae (ⱳi=1.522) plant family for pollen resources to others, Anacardiaceae, Aceraceae, and Acanthaceae (x2=39.32, p<0.01).