The month of January 2020 was characterized by two main activities, namely the collection of samples in the field and the ethnoecological investigation. The activities started with the collection of sampling equipment (tubes, alcohol, bags, bags, GPS, cameras, etc.). Then, in the company of a well-reinforced team of forest rangers from Ruvubu National Park and my Memory Director (the latter spent three days with months on the ground) we took samples of soil and arthropods at the level of 20 termite mounds (i.e. 10 termite mounds inhabited by melipones and 10 termite mounds not inhabited by melipones). The soil samples were sent to ISABU for analysis of their physicochemical properties while the arthropod samples were sent to the University of Burundi laboratory for analysis. In addition, during the month of January 2020, I carried out an ethnoecological survey among the local population living near the Ruvubu National Park in the municipalities of Buhinyuza, Muyinga and Kigamba. A total of 50 people aged at least 30 were surveyed using the attached questionnaire. Most of them were beekeepers.