Beekeeping is not new to Central America; it’s has been practiced there for hundreds of years. Mayans were known for their skill in bee husbandry with the varieties of stingless bees that are native to the area. Though the technologies for harvesting honey were different—Mayans procured their honey from the hollow logs that the bees inhabited—the ways they used honey have remained the same.  They used honey as a sweetener and also as a cure for a range of ailments, mainly respiratory problems, much like today.

True to SHI’s mission to increase sustainability through organic techniques and systems, the long-term value of organic honey is invaluable to the farmers it trains today.

Says Mercedes Maria Peña, a field staff member of Sustainable Harvest - Honduras: "The beekeeping projects decrease families' vulnerability to poverty by providing them with a sustainable livelihood.  All our work is framed in the interests of families and the protection of the environment, using organic land management techniques to ensure the health of the communities and the local environment."

SHI provides families with training in alternative techniques that attract beneficial wildlife by planting flowering border crops, leaving wild spaces and protecting nearby watershed areas.  These techniques ensure the health of pollinating wildlife and restore the environment, while providing the families with nutritious food and marketable crops.

"SHI's efforts to incorporate beekeeping in its general program is critical to furthering our pursuit of holistic and sustainable farming techniques,” said Justin Trezza, SHI Field Program Director. “Beekeeping not only plays a role in income generation for participant farms, but more importantly, serves to build farms that are part of healthy and balanced ecosystems.  Participants are eager to learn natural pest control techniques, ending their dependency on chemical pesticides."

Want to try your hand at beekeeping? Join an SHI Smaller World Tour on a Beekeeping Workshop in Honduras!

From the Rodale Institute: Workshop teaches Honduran mountain farmers natural pest control, organic fertility techniques to boost self-sufficiency, profits

Did You Know?

• A honeybee would have to travel over 55,000 miles and visit approximately 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey. A single honeybee will only produce approximately 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
• Honeybees are a great scientific mystery because they have remained unchanged for 20 million years even though the world has changed around them.
• Honeybees are the only insect that produce food for humans, and honey speeds the healing process and combats infections.
• If kept sealed, honey can last forever. In fact, honey has been found in Egyptian pyramids still edible.