Abstract

CONTRERAS CORTES, Leonardo Ernesto Ulises; VAZQUEZ GARCIA, Amparo; ALDASORO MAYA, Elda Miriam  and  MERIDA RIVAS, Jorge. Native Stingless Bee´s Knowledge and Generational Change among the Lacandon Maya of Nahá, Chiapas. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2020, vol.56, pp.205-225.  Epub Dec 09, 2020. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm.2020.56.2.0008.

The Lacandon Maya were settled in the Lacandon forest since the 17th century; their experience and knowledge allow them to know and manage different natural elements, like the Native Stingless Bees (NSB). The present research registered the species of NSB and the differentiated knowledge about them in Nahá, Chiapas. From 2015 to 2018, through work with key collaborators and entomological collections, the species of NSB identified by the local population of the Flora and Fauna Protection Area of Nahá (FFPAN) were determined. Later a questionnaire was applied to 68 heads of family, all males, to estimate the level of knowledge they have and the uses they give to the native stingless bees, according to age ranges. A total of 15 species of native bees were registered, of which honey is obtained mainly from four: Tetragonisca angustula (Ajyus), Scaura argyrea (K’amas kap’), Plebeia frontalis (Ak chip kap) y Melipona solani (Jach K’ojo’). We registered a differentiated knowledge of the heads of family in Nahá about the 15 species of NSB based on their behavior, morphology and the places where they live. The general tendency is the loss of knowledge, and it is accentuated among the young people. The causes are related to the weakening of the transmission’s mechanisms of knowledge, the decrease of the recollection activities and the absence of management of colonies in their homegardens, as well as the arrival of products that substitute honey and wax, offered at lower prices.

Keywords : Lacandon Maya; native stingless bees; honey; loss of traditional knowledge.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )