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New honey products create a buzz for Make Holidays Greener month
Bestsellers include ‘honey and chilli’ shampoo and an ‘all-natural’ insect repellent.
Melipona honey has been used for centuries by the Maya people for its special healing properties, and now a new range of products from a community-based project run in partnership with the Travel Foundation, Cooperative Travel and Thomas Cook, gives holidaymakers a chance to try it for themselves!
Not only do the health and beauty products, including shampoos, shower gel, lip balm, soaps, insect repellent and bite relief ointment, make fantastic gifts and souvenirs, but every purchase supports the local Maya community business. The project aims to keep the Mayan tradition of beekeeping alive to provide a sustainable livelihood for Maya communities and protect the endangered, stingless Melipona bee which is an important pollinator in the region.
The Travel Foundation project coordinator, Rachel James, said that the group has been delighted with orders taken so far, which is testament to all the hard work gone in to getting the products right over the past two or more years:
"Feedback from local hotels in the Riviera Maya has been really positive and we know from our research that customers love the fact that these products are unique, locally produced and sustainably sourced. Hotels have been keen to communicate the story behind the products, which helps raise awareness of the plight of the Melipona bee and local Maya communities.
"They’ve also given support in other ways. For instance the Grand Palladium Riviera Maya hotel is providing training in key business skills for the Melipona Bee project team and now has a special ‘local produce’ corner in its gift shop."
At the beginning of the five year project in 2009, the Melipona Bee group was producing honey from just ten colonies, but this was expanded to 86 in order to reach a scale that is commercially viable. This is good news for the bees too, as overall there has been a 93% reduction in hives in the past 25 years.
Anyone interested in stocking melipona honey products should contact Rachel James at the Travel Foundation ([email protected]).
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