Yucatán, Mexico

Honey.  We all love it - it's perfect when added to tea, drizzled on top of desserts, and smashed between peanut butter and bread.  It is also wonderfully moisturizing and nourishing for your skin, with many beneficial properties including healing minor wounds, fading scars, soothing irritated skin, and combating oxidative stress and free radicals through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  This Yucatecan Honey line features products made with honey sourced from Xkopek, a small beekeeping company in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico.

On the outskirts of Valladolid in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, is Xkopek Beekeeping Park.  I spent a few hours at the park getting a wonderful tour from José, who not only taught me about the many different types of bees in the region, but also touched on history and how human migrations have impacted bees in the Yucatán.  During my visit I explored a dried, ancient cenote, which is a large sinkhole that was once filled with water,  that now inhabits a variety of native Mayan bees and European bees.  I also explored their more traditional bee-keeping methods using box frames.  

It was interesting to learn how colonization not only affected people in the area, but also the bees.  The European bees that were brought over during colonization are bigger and produce more honey than the native bees, so many beekeepers in the region today predominantly keep European honey bees since they are able to make more of a profit off of their honey.  The Mayan bees that have existed in the region far beyond the time of the European bees are small, and produce far less honey than their European counterparts.  

However, Mayan bees predominantly pollinate and collect nectar from medicinal plants, making their honey full of medicinal properties, and with more of a sweet citrus taste.  The honey used in these products are from the native Mayan bees. 

At the end of my visit I got to taste a variety of their honey products, including the different varieties of honey, honey candies, propolis syrup and extract.  I learned so much about bees in the few hours I spent at Xkopek, and feel so grateful that José gave such a thorough and informative tour.  If you are ever in Valladolid, Mexico, I’d highly recommend checking out Xkopek and supporting their beekeeping business!