Changes and Innovations in Yucatecan Beekeeping Production on Ranchos and Haciendas in the Early Twentieth Century

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Adventures in Beekeeping: Recent Studies in Ecology, Archaeology, History, and Ethnography in Yucatán" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the first part of the twentieth century, Yucatec ranchos and haciendas were spaces where various technological, economic, and landscape changes occurred derived from new beekeeping production strategies. The adoption and cultivation of Apis mellifera to produce greater quantities of honey and wax meant a cultural and material change among the descendant communities. One of the consequences was the reduction of the productive management of the native Mayan bee known as melipona. In this paper we will show how some of the changes linked to the use of ancient meliponaries and apiaries, present in different Yucatecan ranchos and haciendas, derived in different management strategies, the adoption of new species and innovations that sought to intensify the production of products derived from the hives. Archaeological evidence and various historical documents, related to the presence and use of spaces designated for beekeeping, suggest changes in the technologies implemented and the different strategies for bee production in places such as Rancho Hobonil, Santa Rosa, and Hacienda San Pedro Cholul. In most cases, these changes and innovations brought with them an increase in socioeconomic disparities and impacted different aspects related to the social memory and identities of the native communities of the Yucatán peninsula.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Adventures in Beekeeping: Recent Studies in Ecology, Archaeology, History, and Ethnography in Yucatán   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39853.0