International Bee Day and the Maya Beekeepers Behind Puerto Morelos

Every May, the world pauses for International Bee Day.
It is a good thing. Bees deserve attention. They deserve protection. And they deserve far more respect than they usually receive.

Slow-motion close-up of a bee landing on a flower during International Bee Day coverage for the Maya Hinterland Project.

For us at Abbey del Sol, it was a good reminder of something we care about all year: supporting the Maya beekeepers working in the jungle beyond Puerto Morelos.

Two kinds of beekeeping, one shared respect

Maya beekeepers beside traditional jungle bee hives in a palm-roof hut.

In the Maya Hinterland, beekeeping is not just production. It is patience, timing, and trust in Mother Nature.

Doña Martina works with the sacred Melipona bees, the stingless bees long connected to Maya tradition and natural medicine. Don Israel works with Apis bees, the bees that produce the honey many people are more familiar with.

Both kinds of beekeeping matter. Both require patience, skill, and respect for Mother Nature.

Doña Martina working with Melipona bees inside a traditional Maya bee house.
Doña Martina carefully works with sacred Melipona bees in the Maya Hinterland.
Beekeepers in protective suits working among Apis hives in the jungle.
Don Israel and Michael A. Maurus working with Apis hives in the jungle beyond Puerto Morelos.

Supporting Maya Beekeepers Beyond Puerto Morelos

Abbey del Sol supports this work in practical ways. We sponsor the glass jars used for the honey, helping keep the product clean, beautiful, and plastic-free. We also provide modern beekeeper suits and other materials needed for production, harvests, and hive care.

Through the Maya Hinterland Project, led by our good friend Michael A. Maurus, Abbey del Sol continues this support.

This support creates extra income for the beekeepers and helps the work grow in a real way. Since Abbey del Sol began supporting the project a decade ago, the number of Melipona hives has tripled.

Delivery of glass jars for Maya honey production in the jungle.

Honey, Beekeepers, and a Deeper Puerto Morelos

When you choose Abbey del Sol for your Puerto Morelos vacation rentals, you are staying with a local company connected to this community in more ways than one.

Photo showing the delivery of glass jars used for honey production by Maya beekeepers near Puerto Morelos. Abbey del Sol helps support the project by providing materials needed for sustainable honey harvests and traditional beekeeping.

Puerto Morelos is not only beach, reef, restaurants, and sunshine. Behind town is another world: jungle, Maya families, bees, traditions, and people working hard to keep old knowledge alive.

If you would like to learn more, our front desk can help arrange a visit to the Maya beekeepers through the Maya Hinterland Project.

Guests visiting a traditional Maya bee house in the jungle near Puerto Morelos.
Abbey del Sol guests learning about traditional Maya beekeeping through the Maya Hinterland Project.
Jar of raw Maya honey wrapped with fabric and ribbon.
Raw honey produced through traditional Maya beekeeping in the jungle near Puerto Morelos.

The raw honey produced through this work is also available at the front desk, giving you a simple way to taste and support this part of Puerto Morelos.