Abstract
Stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Apinae: Meliponini) collect biotic and abiotic resources from nature to be transformed into nest materials with diverse functions such as structural, immune, defense, and nutritional. The 605 species of stingless bees collecting natural resources processed with associated microbiota are a spectacular biodiversity forming pot-honey, pot-pollen, cerumen and propolis valued in meliponitherapy. The bioactive metabolites have botanical, entomological, and microbial origins. Only pot-honey has been regulated since 2014 in Bahia, Brazil and further national standards. Forecasts of climate change affect stingless bee distribution, their productivity, and may influence the diversity of active metabolites in the nest. A sequence of researches serving meliponitherapy illustrated the ancient use of pot-honey eye drops to the latest cerumen components, reducing oxidative stress, and recent synergism with antibiotics to overcome antimicrobial resistance. Besides the chemical composition, the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities are fundamental added values, supporting a medicinal approach for both nutritional and pharmaceutical applications. Increased aliphatic organic acid contents in fermented pot-honey is not a defect, but a microbial biotransformation to preserve their wet honey with active metabolites. Characterizing the microbiome of stingless bees and their nest materials assists in identifying potential active biomolecules of microbial origin. Authenticity and chemical variability were discussed for quality control. Bibliometrics complemented this review for medicinal stingless bees (2004–2023) and stingless bees in climate change (2010–2023). Neotropical biodiversity of stingless bees was evidenced with the 259 stingless bee species richness in Brazil, 95 of them used in meliponiculture. Nest materials of 64 stingless bee taxa in 14 countries were reviewed for their flavonoid and polyphenol contents, and 13 biological activities. Conservation of stingless bees’ biodiversity has been addressed in the face of climate change and the chemical pool represented for meliponitherapy. Active metabolites from the stingless bee nest are not envisaged to be extracted but to be used in their original matrices: pot-honey, pot-pollen, cerumen, or propolis. A synthesis of most active metabolites could be an option for pharmaceutical developments to reproduce a bioactive chemical repertoire of stingless bees in nature, with a role on Sustainable Development Goals SDG2 food security and SDG3 good health and well-being.