Stingless bees have mechanisms by which a worker that finds a food source or a suitable place to build the nest (when swarming is imminent) is able to transmit this information to the other bees.
The form of communication varies from one species to the other. The communication in stingless bees was widely study by Kerr and collaborators and a good review of this subject is found in Michener (1974).
Some stingless bees have no mechanisms to indicate the location of a food source and only produce a low sound when they enter the nest, bringing the nectar and passing it to the others. In this case, the sound stimulates the bees and the odor of the food can help the workers to find its source. This sort of mechanism is found, for example, in mocinha preta (Frieseomelitta silvestrii).
Other bees such as jataí (Tetragonisca angustula) and mirim (Plebeia droryana) have a more complex mechanism. When the bees arrive with food they run in a zig-zag inside the nest and produce a sound that stimulates the other workers to go out of nest and search for the source that has the same odor as that brought to the nest.
In cupira (Partamona cupira) and other species of Partamona, a worker finds a food source and, after stimulating the other workers, goes out of the nest and back to the source, being followed by some other workers. This guiding bee liberates a substance produced by the mandibular glands which helps the other workers orient while following.
A more complicated mechanism is observed in Scaptotrigona postica, caga-fogo (Oxytrigona tataira) mumbuca (Geotrigona spp.) and others. In these bees, the worker that finds a food source goes back to the colony leaving a small mark in the vegetation. This mark is done with a secretion from the mandibular glands. This trail serves to guide the other workers to the source.
In Melipona, sound is used to indicate the distance to the food source while the workers follow the bee that discovered the source.