Ecological and socioeconomic aspects of meliponiculture in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Resumen

Objective: To describe the main economic and ecological characteristics in the production of native stingless bees (NSBs) in the Yucatan Peninsula (YP), Mexico.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Through the snowball method, an exhaustive search for references about meliponiculture was conducted, using keywords individually or combined, such as meliponiculture, Melipona, native stingless bees, Mayan meliponiculture, Yucatan Peninsula, etc.

Results: In Campeche and Yucatán there is a total of N=216 producers who own a total of 3,362 “jobones” destined to meliponiculture. However, economic and ecological studies are scarce and do not allow deeply understanding the benefits of NSBs in the YP; that is, information about production costs and economic benefits that would be obtained with the conservation of NSBs.

Study Limitations/Implications: This study describes the socioeconomic and ecological aspects of native stingless bees in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Findings/Conclusions: Meliponiculture is an important activity from the cultural aspect, therefore, its rescue and conservation is urgent; on the other hand, the sale cost of Melipona honey is higher compared to honey from the Apis melifera L. bee, representing an economic alternative for the producers of rural communities.