Beekeeping in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has been an ancestral way of life for many. The Xunan-Kab bee has been given veneration by the Mayan civilisations and is priced for their honey. However, honey production in Mexico is not an easy way of life, especially for 21st-century beekeepers. The difficulties range from climate change to adulterants diluting honey, which has a direct impact on volatile prices.
This is where cooperatives like Educe shine by bringing together 800 beekeepers working in 40 individual cooperatives dealing with the multi-layered challenges of modern-day beekeeping. Working together, they negotiate better prices for their honey without the need for intermediaries. Educe’s focus is producing high-quality honey using traditional methods that have been working well for these beekeepers for centuries.
Miguel Ángel Munguia Gil, the general manager at Educe, has multiple concerns such as land availability, prices, and the threat of organised crime. The Mexican climate crisis is also among the largest concerns for producers like Vitaliano Cauich, given the area’s significant changes in the past few decades. There is a noticeable increase in extreme weather events such as droughts and hurricanes, with flowers coming very late in February. All of this can have a detrimental effect on honey production.
Shared Interest is an ethical investment cooperative that provides capital to smallholders at fair rates. They work with cooperatives like Educe and buy honey produce from individual producers before they are sold worldwide. The additional profits made return to beekeepers to assist with investment, development, and training. In the words of Andrés Munguia Zarco from Educe, “We are seeing improvements in the income for the beekeepers.
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