Technical and socioeconomic characteristics of beekeeping Mayan communities in Yucatan Coastal Center

Abstract

Beekeeping in the Maya region of Yucatan is an ancient activity that has undergone several transformations from replacing the stingless bee to production surplus for the market. The purpose of this study was to characterize the main technical variables and socio-economic associated with beekeeping to small scale. Information was obtained from field using a survey by statistical sampling stratified, the strata considered were producers with up to 25 hives, 26 to 50 and 51 to 100. It was found that the beekeepers have advanced age and limited schooling; they practice the activity in a complementary way and have a limited group organization. The widespread practices of handling of the hives are artificial feeding, change of Queens, change of honeycombs and division of the colonies. After analyze the three components, economic is the biggest impact on the tenure of hives.