Melipona Beecheii
The history of stingless bee honey cultivation among the Mayan goes back to Mesoamerican prehistory and despite this the technique persists in the 21st century. Meliponiculture is still part of the subsistence mechanisms for some native communities.
Currently honey bees are considered an endangered species.
In Zentik Project we honor the rescue, conservation and awareness of this millenary tradition and thus the consumption of Melipona honey.
Melipona honey is known for its excellent properties on improving health, increasing defenses and helping the entire immune system, and not less important for its antibacterial components.
The Tro-Cortesiano codex (Codex Madrid) is the main prehispanic testimony (Late Postclassic) about beliefs and practices related to Yucatecan Mayas and its meliponiculture, particularly for the melipona beecheii.
The melipona beecheii bee being a stingless specie has to defend themselves using different techniques such as massive attacks and bites with acid and resinous ejection.
The entrance to its nest tends to be very small and is normally limited to a single hole so that the guardian bee can, if necessary, obstruct the access tunnel with its body.
The melipona beecheii is a sociable animal that lives in colonies built by workers, and has a breeding female.
The flowers that they prefer to visit are the xtabentun, tsots kab, blooms of limonaria and rain of gold.
Beechei melipona´s nests in the wild are found in tree holes; and the ancient Maya created their own nests in a hollowed trunk called jobon.
The jobon is made up of 3 parts:
1) The brood chamber, where the young and the queen live.
2) Pots or storage cells for honey and pollen.
3) And the dumpster, where the debris and bodies of dead meliponas are found