“Bee-alive” project consists in the global rescue of bees through beekeeping proceeding to the care, protection, reproduction, sustainable harvesting of the products of the hives, as well as scientific research understanding ecological, agricultural, political systems and social factors that have led this species to be a victim of human activities.
Since 1981, we have worked and collaborated in the development of sustainable beekeeping, being pioneers in Mexico and in the state of Colima, actors such as the MVZ Roberto Atilano Uriarte, actively participating in their time to apply a sustainable practice, which has now been left aside.
Because beekeeping leads to the maintenance of bee colonies, in hives, such work allows the collection of honey and other products (beeswax, propolis, pollen and royal jelly), as well as benefits in the pollination of crops and production from bees for distribution to other beekeepers; for the above they are kept in an area called apiary.
There are more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide, of which 1840 species and 144 genera are native to Mexico. Thus, in the state of Colima we can find 5 families of native bees, distributed in 62 genera and 101 species, as shown in Table 1.
It is worth mentioning that by practicing natural beekeeping, voluntarily the aim is to hand over most of the control of the hive to the bees, minimizing interference in their lives and taking honey only when the needs of the bees have been met, without affecting and intervene in their development environment.
Since the consequences of spraying crops with chemicals, opening the hive for inspection, artificial insemination of queens, medication and feeding with sugar water has led to a general weakening of the constitution of bees and their honey. These evidences show a rapid tendency to the loss of bee diversity in the world, causing the dramatic loss of pollination, the extinction of bees and the loss of species of wild flora, representing a risk for both ecosystems and agricultural production.
That is why the BEE-ALIVE project in conjunction with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Multidisciplinary Center for Scientific Research SC and the civil association COECAB of Quintana Roo, are currently participating to find balanced alternatives and sustainable solutions that benefit and satisfy the needs of the different actors that benefit from bees, being these areas, livestock, agriculture, beekeeping as well as society itself in general.
