Material and methods
Sample collection .
To investigate the compositional variation of SBH and Apis spp. honey, we collected honey samples from diverse geographic regions across the world within all five continents (Figure 1; Supplementary Table 1 & 2) between January 2019 and July 2022. We collected samples from different countries within each targeted region to ensure broad representation of the environmental and ecological diversity of stingless bee habitat. Collection sites within each country were selected based on the availability of honey samples produced by both stingless bees and honey bees. Honey samples were collected during similar periods across different locations whenever possible to minimize the impact of inter-seasonal variation in honey composition and properties (Aleixo et al., 2017).
Stingless bee honeys (n = 150) from 48 species distributed in 23 genera (Full list in Supplementary Table 1) in the subfamily Meliponinae were collected from managed colonies in the Afrotropics (n = 50), the Neotropics (n = 50) and the Indo-Malayan region (n = 50). Two extraction methods described by Mokaya et al., 2022 were employed to harvest honey directly from sealed pots within the nest. The stingless bee species identity was provided by the meliponiculturists (i.e. stingless bee beekeepers) during honey harvest and confirmed by identification of voucher specimens. Apis mellifera (n = 69), Apis cerana (n=12), Apis florea (n=2) and Apis dorsata (n=2) honeys were extracted from managed colonies by squeezing the honeycomb. A volume of 10 ml of honey was collected from each colony and placed in a sterilized container. After honey collection in the field, honey bee samples were stored in a fridge (< 5 °C) while SBH honeys were stored in a freezer to prevent fermentation due to their higher water content.