Stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponinae) have evolved an interesting communication language in which foragers are believed to indicate food location to inexperienced nestmates using mechanisms that include piloting, scent-trails, beacons, stereotyped behaviors, sounds and vibrations (Nieh J.C. 2004. Apidologie 35: 159-182). The study of this group has initiated a controversy as to how stingless bees recruit nestmates to sites and what specific aspects of a message are being transferred with each mechanism (Hrncir M. et al. 2000. Apidologie 31: 93-113). Using the little studied Melipona beecheii in Costa Rica, I am examining the questions: (1) Do foragers of this species recruit inexperienced nestmates to sites? (2) If they do, what are the mechanisms for such communication? (3) Do these bees communicate location inside the nest, outside the nest, or both? To answer these questions, I am conducting recruitment experiments with paired feeder arrays varying one aspect of the food at a time (distance, direction, or quality). Preliminary tests of distance communication showed that M. beecheii foragers do recruit a significantly higher number of nestmates to experimental feeders at 40-80 meters, relative to control feeders at 20-40 meters. Current video analysis will determine whether foragers signal any aspect of location inside the nest by performing behaviors or sounds associated with a particular location. Further recruitment experiments will determine if experienced foragers “pilot” nestmates to feeders outside by timing the departures-from-nest and arrivals-to-feeder of foragers. If recruits arrive at feeders a few seconds after foragers, and this number is lower than the arrival delay between any two randomly chosen foragers, this could indicate that newcomers arrive with guides, rather than from random-searching. Since M. beecheii has not been studied in the context of communication, this project will help resolve the controversy regarding the mechanisms used by Melipona bees to communicate food-source location.