Beekeeping with Indigenous People in the Amazon

This week, when parasitic “robber bees” descended on a local stingless bee hive – Magnolia sprang into action. Magnolia is a stingless beekeeping educator in the Maijuna community of Sucusari. For the last year, OnePlanet has been training Magnolia and seven others as the first cohort of Maijuna beekeeping “promoters,” preparing them to share their knowledge of bee management. When neighbors noticed a colony in distress, they alerted Magnolia so she could demonstrate to a new beekeeper how to control the pest.

“Robber bees” are part of the Lestrimelitta genus, that specialize on raiding the honey stores of other colonies like those that the Maijuna raise. When they attack, hundreds of robber bees descend on the hive, overwhelm the resident bees’ defenses, and plunder the hive’s reserves. Robber bees are persistent parasites that are nearly impossible to prevent, and they can leave colonies bereft of honey and heavily damaged, inviting in other pests.

Luckily for the beekeepers of Sucusari, Magnolia has been experimenting with control methods for this situation. With robber bees circling ominously, Magnolia taught the beekeeper to make and use a robber bee trap that she has adapted for local conditions. Applying Magnolia’s methods, they captured hundreds of robber bees and cleaned up the infestation. The next day Magnolia followed up with the beekeeper, deftly demonstrating how to use a homemade fly trap to control any pests that follow in robber bees’ wake. Thanks to Magnolia’s teaching, the beekeeper will recover the hive and is armed with new knowledge for combating robber bees in the future.

Magnolia and her family tend 20 bee hives. As a beekeeping promoter, Magnolia is sharing her expertise, helping neighboring beekeepers keep over 150 hives in their community. Magnolia and the other Maijuna beekeeping promoters provide home-grown experience and technical assistance to local beekeepers, increasing the number of colonies raised and improving the annual honey harvest. It is exciting to see the sustainability of this activity in action! Thank you for your continued support as we train stingless beekeeping promoters—the keys to the future of stingless beekeeping with the Maijuna.

Maijuna beekeepers are teaching the next generation the cultural importance of bees along with the honey-producing trade!

Seasoned beekeepers are growing as educators and extending their knowledge to young people for the good of the bees, Maijuna culture, and their local economy. Among the strengths of stingless beekeeping as a sustainable complement to Maijuna livelihoods are extensive, long-held cultural practices relating to the bees. Maijuna beekeeping educators have recently been focused on teaching bee ecology and the Maijuna language to youth in their communities.

Maijuna educators began challenging kids to explore the vast diversity of local stingless bees according to their respective names in the Maihiki language. Armed with bug nets and magnifying glasses, kids collected various species of stingless bees to study their anatomy. They then turned to their elders to learn about what distinguishes these bees, be it their nests, behavior, honey, or relationships with people. Beekeeping educators also explained the process of how bees gather nectar and pollen to make honey, while also drawing parallels to their own culture.

Just as bees make honey by processing and fermenting nectar from forest flowers, so too do the Maijuna gather around a favorite drink called masato. Masato is prepared through peoples’ harvest of yuca, followed by collaborative processing and fermentation, ultimately creating a drink that brings people together. Honey is the bee’s masato! Beekeeping educators explored this connection through games and play with kids who otherwise find few opportunities to learn about their cultural traditions. The beekeeping educators see this as part of the endeavor for the cultural and biological conservation of bees while sustainably selling honey.

In addition to helping kids understand the connection between stingless bees and Maijuna culture, our educators are working to strengthen kids’ leadership skills through group work and to nourish creativity, inquiry, and communication skills. Our dynamic workshops were full of educational games, art, and hands-on exploration. After collecting stingless bees, students created collages to represent the bees and presented their findings to their peers. Our work is especially powerful when we can simultaneously support leadership, cultural education, ecological exploration, and economic opportunities in one fell swoop!

Beekeeping educators are leveraging their knowledge of the native stingless bees into a celebration of Maijuna culture and as a sustainable complement to their livelihoods. Witnessing the next generation of Maijuna beekeepers get excited about bee ecology, management, and their own unique culture, signals that beekeeping will be an important part of the Maijuna economy and community for years to come. Your generous donations help us inspire and educate the youngest Maijuna abejeros. We will keep you updated on this evolving story of conservation, empowerment, and economic opportunity!