Jaredites and Melipona Bees: Unraveling Book of Mormon Encounter LDS Tours – Secrets in the Yucatán Forest
Did this bee traveled with the jaredites?
Increasing interest in local traditions combined with and emphasis on sustainable development of the Riviera maya, Resulted in the emergence of small cooperatives that produce highly valued sting less bee 🐝 honey.
Some people pursue beekeeping as a rewarding hobby. It is also fairly easy to observe the Mayan bees wherever there are flowering palm and acacia trees.
Usually a wild beehive was found in the forest in a hollow tree and a piece of the log that was holding the beehive was cut out and sealed on both ends with clay and carried to the village.
There it was hung in or near the house.
Honey was extracted when the seal was opened with a minimum amount of damage, to the brood and pollen that are stored inside. The Mayan beehive yields about 4-5 kg of honey per year.
Valche, a special beverage, was prepared for this ceremony.
The Honey from the stingless bees in also much higher in water content, which sometimes reaches up to 40% it is almost transparent and may be a little bitter from the resin that the bees collect from the trees, to which are attributed its medical properties.
The wax made by the melipoma bees is soft and easy to work, and it was utilized in wax casting, usually popular in the bee-keeping areas.
Bees were considered very special beings because upon their presence depended on their harvests.
In fact, there are some plants 🌱 that can be pollinated by the small stingless bees🐝 and are never visited by their European or African counterparts.
Another interesting detail about these bees is that, same as some other animals they leave the area ahead of time if a strong natural phenomena, like a storm or hurricane is coming. They may relocate as far as one month in advance.
Fact: Each hive has a guardian bee that oversees all incoming and outgoing traffic
-Honey is stored in balls of wax
Honey is extracted when the balls of wax are perforated gently with a wooden stick stick, after which the log is tilted and the honey is poured out.
-The brood and the bee colony are present during the honey harvesting and remain unharmed.