Beekeeping with Indigenous People in the Amazon

Maijuna beekeepers set out from their communities in the rainforest and journeyed two days to participate in Peru’s inaugural Stingless Beekeeping Conference this past July. Seven Maijuna beekeeping promoters, one elder knowledge keeper and I travelled to the mountainous city of Tarapoto. After years of successful beekeeping, these Maijuna were ready to share their story on the national stage and learn from the diverse experiences of other participants. 

All the Maijuna beekeepers were eager to contribute to our presentation during the conference, so we took the stage together! Between the nine of us, we shared the Maijuna ceremonial bee dance and presented a sampling of Maijuna ecological knowledge about the bees, the development of the stingless beekeeping school and the honey harvest. 

We heard from eminent scientists and dedicated beekeepers representing Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru who shared their insights on a wide range of topics, spanning agrochemicals’ impact on native bees, techniques for combating parasites and evidence that the Incas and previous Quechua cultures were stingless beekeepers!

Remarkably, following the Maijuna's presentation, each subsequent lecture for the next two days made specific mention of the Maijuna and their beekeeping skills. The Maijuna's profound knowledge and well-organized association made an indelible mark, earning them recognition as leaders in stingless beekeeping in the Peruvian Amazon.

During the event we learned how to make a medicinal extract from a resinous material bees produce, propolis, that is prized for its anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties and for its amino acid composition. Seeing that many fellow “meliponicultores” focus on keeping different genera of bees inspired the Maijuna to diversify their hives to include other species that exist in the forest to increase production and harvest even more varied honeys.

The Maijuna beekeepers returned to their home communities and are already sharing the techniques that they learned with their neighbors. During the conference the Maijuna beekeepers celebrated their experience and achievements while learning that stingless bees provide many more opportunities and there is much yet to discover. Your support helps us to continue to grow the stingless beekeeping school!

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!

Stingless bees create scent trails in the forest that lead their sisters to flowers so they can better gather nectar and feed the colony. So, too, are Maijuna stingless beekeeping educators – dubbed ‘promoters’ – showing new beekeepers the way to more hives and honey.

This May we launched promoter training with nine of our most accomplished beekeepers. During the last three months they have taken enormous strides as educators and are supporting family, neighbors, and entire communities to new levels of growth.

Within their own communities the Maijuna promoters are regularly working with beekeepers, making dozens of home visits to review progress, demonstrate new techniques, and encourage best practices that will boost this season’s sustainable honey harvest.

In Sucusari, Magnolia and Ilder hosted mini-workshops for neighbors teaching colony divisions and pest control, followed by family-level visits to support new beekeepers as they gain practice. Promoters Jermi and Duglas have been demonstrating techniques for reinforcing colonies to neighbors eager to learn from their experience. Saúl and Loida, the promoters in Nueva Vida, hosted a box-building workshop and constructed 18 new hives with locally-sourced materials. Together the couple has visited dozens of apiaries to support their community in mastering advanced husbandry techniques and boost future honey harvest. Tarkis has been making the beekeeping rounds in Puerto Huamán where she is accompanying her neighbors who are newly interested in the sustainable economic activity. Two promoters from Maijuna communities in the Napo River basin have traveled to the Putumayo to work with beekeepers in their first year of learning the trade.

The Maijuna beekeeping promoters are already sharing their knowledge beyond the reaches of their ancestral lands. A promoter has co-hosted multiday workshops with OnePlanet, the Chaikuni Institute, La Restinga, Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana (IIAP), and Camino Verde in communities in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve and to Urarina communities along the Rio Tigre.

Just like the bees they tend, the strength of our beekeepers lies in the collective. Empowering educators based in beekeeping communities is foundational for establishing an activity that can be sustainable through space and time. The promoters are enthusiastically embracing their role in supporting the people and bees they care about. The Maijuna beekeeping promoters are eager to advance their training and are preparing to spearhead this years’ upcoming honey harvest. Thank you for your support of this cohort of beekeeping educators through this exciting chapter of our work!

The Maijuna Stingless Beekeeping School is growing in exciting directions! Our most advanced students started their journey toward becoming beekeeping educators themselves during the very first educator workshop this May!

As neighbors in Maijuna communities and beyond observe the success of stingless beekeeping and want to learn sustainable management, the demand for training and technical support has rapidly expanded. Seasoned Maijuna beekeepers are up to the task! Eager to share their expertise, nine beekeepers convened for the first in a series of trainings focused on honing effective educational practices. This star cohort manages over 120 colonies and boasts extensive experience and dedication to the trade.

During the workshop, beekeepers spoke of being energized to share their knowledge with family and neighbors. Several educators-in-training mentioned their conviction that beekeeping is important for children to learn as it will be an economic resource and cultural practice long into the future. Another beekeeper confided that he is motivated to teach because he has developed a deep affection for the bees and it pains him that many people needlessly destroy wild colonies for their honey. He hopes to share his knowledge of sustainable management and to inspire the same awe and esteem for the bees that he feels.

Beekeepers practiced public speaking, effective teaching methods, and how to curate a dynamic and supportive learning environment. In addition to pedagogy, participants deepened their knowledge of bee anatomy and life history. We are thrilled that our beekeepers continue to have deep curiosity about bees while being determined to be “generous with their knowledge,” as one mother and beekeeper put it. Thanks to your generosity, beekeepers and future educators have taken this exciting first step. We are eager to share updates as Maijuna beekeeping educators progress!