Xel-Ha Blog

CANCUN-RIVIERA MAYA; MEXICO.-Xel-Há Meliponary framed a moving ceremony where gratitude for the harvest was offered. Lead by the mayan priest Pedro May Canul and witnessed by the famous Mexican singer a href=”http://orbita.starmedia.com/~rodrigocontreras/Ana_Barbara.htm” target=”_blank”>Ana Bárbara.
as special guest.

The “Xunaan Cab” or Meliponini Bee Honey Harvesting Ceremony is celebrated twice a year in Xel-Ha, in June and December, on full moon days. A Mayan priest assists to the Meliponary and leads a ritual where he thanks Mayan deities for their blessings and bees fertility. The distinctive characteristic of the Meliponini Bee or Mayan Bee is that they have no sting and the honey they produce has a high nutritional and medical value.

Ana Barbara and her family were present in the different acts of the ceremony in “The Altar”, “The Meliponary” where bee populations are placed, “The Harvest” as well as the prayer, having as background music the Maya Pax or “Sound of God”.

In addition to the permanent care provided to Xel-Há’s Meliponary, this place is an awareness-raising and teaching center for over 8 thousand boys and girls from Quintana Roo that every year visit it freely. An average of 120 schools of the region is welcomed on a yearly basis as part of the educative program launched together with the Public Education Secretary.

Products obtained from the domestication of bees are Honey and wax. Honey has healing properties for eyes treatment (fleshy, conjunctivitis, cataracts), ears treatment (infection of ears), respiratory tract treatment (pharyngitis, laryngitis), intestinal treatment (gastritis, typhoid) and skin treatment (liver and sun marks, skin ulcer).

Wax is used for the elaboration of ceremonial candles. Honey also is used in ceremonies to sweeten drink. The meliponini beekeeping is an activity that has been fading in a dangerous way so the meliponini is considered an endangered species.

The work done by Xel-ha in the Meliponary deserved an award in 2007 handed by the Mexican Centre for Philanthropy which considered it one of the best socially responsible activities. 16 ceremonies have been celebrated in Xel-Ha’s Meliponary, all of them leaded by a Mayan priest from Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo, a nearby town.

All the activities related by the Meliponary are supervised and supported by the Popular Cultures Direction, of the National Advice for the Culture and the Arts.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Natural Benefits, Special Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.