# Stingless bees in the Yucatan



## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Those pictures aren't that clear. Hopefully I'll take better pictures when I meet up with the guy that keeps Melipona bees on Friday.


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

There is a big "push" to bring the stingless bees back into the Mayan Culture of Yucatan. 
I am a part of such community that is trying to bring them back. 

I will find you some contacts but, please let me know what part of the Peninsula you are at. My family owns a few hotels at the Rivera Maya so, we know lots of people there.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

I guess you have not seen any hanging on the front porch? In my mind, that is the way I pictured them..... sort of a secondary economy of tiny chewey comb sales. You may have to go pretty deep into the jungle....


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

Try this guy...

https://www.facebook.com/stephane.palmieri.1


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

MichaBees said:


> Try this guy...
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/stephane.palmieri.1


VEry interesting... wonder if Charlie already knows this guy... if not I am sure it would be helpful to contact him. Somewhere around Quintano Roo?


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks for the tip. I arrived Tulum today. I sent him a message on FB. We'll see what happens. Unfortunately, I may be wearing my wife's patience out. She been pretty cooperative but would like me to spend more time in the important hunt for trinkets...


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Cg3 are you south of Talum towards the Sian Ka'an. If not head down to Ziggy beach and have lunch. You won't regret it. Xcaret has a stingless hive there.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

We pulled into Tulum today. Wife starting to lose patience with bees. Maybe we'll go shopping.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Where are you staying in Talum?


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

We're staying in town. Hotel Kin Ha. I haven't been in the Maya Riviera since backpacker days of the late 70's. Shocked and saddened. This kind of development was inevitable, I guess, but Jeez...


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

*Score!* Reply from Michabee's tip- "*Stephane Palmieri*- Hola Charlie if you want ti see the melipona bees we are in Tulum inside the hotel Don Diego de la Selva. It s posible visiting ich afertnoon... saludos"


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Then you must hit Ziggy beach for lunch. Your wife will forget all about you spending time on the bees.


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

I am glad you were able to connect with him. Tell him I am the administrator for the beekeeping Mexican forum; he is part of it. 
Have fun!

Aurelio (Leo) Paez -DBA Michas Honey House


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Aurelio, thanks so much. Stephane was more than helpful. He runs a very nice hotel here in Tulum, with an apiary on site. He is involved in encouraging the revival of stingless beekeeping here, especially among the Mayans. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/dk0EVRdrYh/Don Diego Hotel.JPG
There are about 20 colonies of Melipona bees and several of Trigona bees, from 2 or 3 varieties.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/PqfJKFrjA5/apiary.JPG
We inspected a colony of Melipona bees (between thunderstorms!) and they couldn't have been sweeter. Totally uninterested in us or being in daylight. They are very different than European bees. The brood combs are arranged horizontally in a pyramid shape, with separate balls of pollen and honey off to the side.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/VYNZOdm_BB/hive interior.JPG
Traditionally, colonies are kept in log sections and to harvest, the honey balls are punctured with a stick and the log tipped to let the honey run out. In box hives it is much simpler to just suck out the honey with a syringe.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/bcmPN8BjEw/harvesting.JPG
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/bcmPN8BjEw/harvesting.JPG
The honey is somewhat thin, with a moisture content of around 28%. It has a nice floral taste. Colonies are harvested twice a year and produce around 4-5 kilos annually at a value of $US100/kilo.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

I'm breaking this post up, as we are experiencing thunderstorms and the internet keeps going out.
If anyone visits the Mayan Riviera and is interested in this stuff, I encourage you to check Stephane out at-
*Hotel Don Diego de la Selva*
_www.dondiegodelaselva.com_
The hotel is very nice, but a little more pricey than we usually go for but they have a small beekeeping museum there and, 6 days a week, from 1-4pm, he will show you his bees. They are hoping to open an actual museum and sell books and take donations toward that goal.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/nMxxkIIgwZ/smilingbeekeepers.JPG


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## ArtSmart (Sep 29, 2012)

What are the sticks for in a little pan inside the box?


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

cg3 said:


> The honey is somewhat thin, with a moisture content of around 28%. It has a nice floral taste. Colonies are harvested twice a year and produce around 4-5 kilos annually at a value of $US100/kilo.


Sounds like it ferments easily..... maybe they sell it in shots?
Sort of a mead.

$100 a kilo would be about $50 a lb..... guess the locals don't buy much.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

His English was as sketchy as my Spanish and I may have some garbled info. This honey does not ferment at 28%. The sticks in the pan- I asked and didn't follow the explanation, but I think it had something to do with splitting the colony. The colony pictured was a 10 mo. old, medium size colony. Honey price is high because of the rarity and percieved medicinal qualities. Counterfeiting is common. We saw tiny containers of mixed honey/pollen/propolis for sale as medicine in local markets.


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## LizardKing (Feb 12, 2014)

Very intersting, love to get more stingless beekeeping information.
Are stingless bees unable to tolerate Southern US weather?
Is anyone working with themi nthe USA?

Asian bees are also kept domestically but I am told are illegal to import to the US which
I find a lot like closing the barn door after the horse left.
There are four honeybee species in Asia and I people eat the honey from two of them
though I think they only keep one species domestically.


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## MichaBees (Sep 26, 2010)

There are a lot of different kinds of stingless bees that the Mayans worked with -and some still do. Yucatan is not the only place in Mexico with stingless bees, they are actually in different states.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

You can't even buy them here. This type of beekeeping had fallen out of style. They are only available by splitting. That's one of the things Stephane is doing here, splitting aggressively to increase the number of available bees.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Apparently, some of the photo links above didn't work out. Try these:
Trigona bees- https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tyqqp423jzdq9ht/lY_T6NACPx
Melipona- https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1u3417dw0nkbyqd/1fq7FMfJnY


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Cg3 in the melipona pictures, what was the syringe used for?


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Harvesting honey.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

I believe CG3 had said that the syringe was used for extracting honey. No wonder the honey is so expensive, extraction must be really tedious.


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## Haraga (Sep 12, 2011)

Thanks cg3. I am assuming you made it home ok.


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

Most of me did. I may have left some of my digestive system behind.
Extracting with the syringe didn't seem that tedious and, other than that, there is very little work involved in tending these hives. They do no inspections and have no pests or parasites to deal with.


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## hpm08161947 (May 16, 2009)

cg3 said:


> Most of me did. I may have left some of my digestive system behind.
> .


Did you run into a "Bad Burrito"? or a "Terrible Tecata"? I know I did when I was down in Colima.

When extraction occurs are the combs left in the little hive, therefore maintaining the colony? Des the extraction pull one cell at a time.... or is it somehow ble to pull from the whole comb?


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## cg3 (Jan 16, 2011)

The honey is in balls or sacs about the size of golf balls. Not really comb as I'm familiar with it. He just tore a little opening in it and sucked the honey out. The pollen, or bee bread, is in similar balls. You can tell the difference by the colors.


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