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”.

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Three manatees, weighing a combined total of nearly a ton, arrived on Tuesday to Xel-Ha Natural Wonder, which will be their new home from today, a natural niche that will additionally serve to display their habits and lives for the appreciation and joy of visitors.

The specimens’ names are Bu’ul, the youngest, a male 8 months old, weighing around 220 lbs, whose name means “bean” in Mayan; Bu’ul’s mother Pompom, thirteen years old and weighing around 1,100 lbs; and Baaxal, an adolescent female whose name means “toy” in Mayan, weighing almost 650 lbs. (more…)

Xel-Há respects nature. Worried about indiscriminate tree cutting, Xel-Há has decided to suspend the printing of paper maps for the park with the purpose of using less paper in its operations to avoid unnecessary tree cutting.

Two important changes have been implemented in the park to replace the maps: the use of 30 maps in important points of the park, and the training of all of the collaborators of Xel-Há to assist visitors to meet and exceed their expectations.

In order to replace the use of paper maps in the Park, 30 maps were strategically placed in important points at Xel-Há. Thanks to this program of sustainability, this action saves 50 trees 10 m. high. Help us preserve the environment by using less paper!

Click on the map for full size

Xel-Há joined the “Clean Point” campaign created by the Ecology Department of the Municipality of Benito Juarez in order to have the first collecting center for PET (containers made of polyethylene therephthalate) and all kinds of plastic.

4.3% of the 2.4 million tons of garbage that are currently found in the landfill is made up of PET. Each inhabitant of Cancun generates approximately 1.25 kilos of garbage daily, which puts the ecosystem at a great risk.

Xel-Há contributes to the “Clean Point” program by working on a very important environmental problem such as the pollution by batteries. The effect generated by battery pollution takes has a longer time span than other pollutants. The environmental damage caused by this type of pollution when mixed with the rest of the garbage, is mainly due to the battery components, such as mercury, cadmium and nickel that produce cancer.

A survey made by the National Institute of Ecology (INE) of Mexico, showed that during 1960 to 2003, more than 635, 000 tons of batteries were thrown away into the garbage, releasing approximately 190,000 tons of toxic substances.

For this reason the Natural Wonder Xel-Há launched a program called “Ponte Las Pilas” in 2005, with the participation of two schools and supermarkets. Today, there are 12 strategic points to collect batteries in Cancun, which have gathered approximately five and a half tons of batteries, which means 1,661 kilos of toxic waste that will not pollute the environment.

With this kind of actions, Xel-Há together with its collecting points show society that with everybody’s help, it is possible to achieve results that can have a positive impact on our environment.