The Land of Corn and Honey: The Keeping of Stingless Bees (Meliponiculture) in the Ethno-ecological Environment of Yucatán (Mexico) and El Salvador

The systems of keeping stingless bees (meliponiculture; Melipona beechii) currently practised among communities in El Salvador and among Maya communities on the Yucatan peninsula, Mexico, are described from an ethnographic and environmental perspective using data collected during field work carried out from 1993 to 1996. The historical background of meliponiculture in Mesoamerica is described and the sustainability of meliponiculture in the "ejido" of Tepich is examined. It is argued that meliponiculture became less sustainable after the Spanish conquest as a result of changes in the agricultural system. It is shown how meliponiculture fits into Maya cosmology and why bee-keepers link their own lives and destinies to those of the stingless bees. It appears that traditional shifting cultivation of maize was highly compatible with traditional bee-keeping. Nowadays, the "land of maize and honey" is a less sustainable environment for hives of stingless bees, because the slash-and-burn system has disappeared or removed from the flight range of the bees. A number of changes in meliponicultural techniques is suggested to improve the situation.