Meliponiculture, an ancient Maya practice focused on raising the stingless bee Melipona…

Meliponiculture, an ancient Maya practice focused on raising the stingless bee Melipona beecheii (Xunáan Kaab), is at a critical juncture in the Yucatán Peninsula. This practice yields honey with significant medicinal and historical value, but production is limited to 1 to 1.5 liters per hive annually, compared to 15 liters from the conventional honeybee, Apis mellifera. A doctoral project aims to chemically characterize honey samples from Melipona and Apis species to identify unique molecular patterns that can authenticate melipona honey and combat fraud.