Beekeeping in Mexico

Beekeeping is an activity that has developed alongside the rise of civilization. He began playing an eating paper, then was used for religious purposes in the form of offering, then for the embalming of cadavers in medical applications for disease prevention and as an antiseptic.

Beekeeping is technically oriented beekeeping and to provide them the necessary care in order to get the products you are able to develop and commercialize collect for farming.

Beekeeping worldwide and in Mexico

Are just ten nations that sell 78 percent of the honey sold worldwide, four nations are providing 50 percent of those sales and among them is Mexico. Our country participates with 6.3 percent of world exports of natural honey, with a volume of 25.473 tons.

Germany ranks as the importing country par excellence, this country is spent just over a quarter of sales volumes in the world.

In Mexico for several hundred years have conducted two types of apilcultura, one based on the European honeybee (Apis mellifera) which was introduced in various regions of our country during the colonial era, and the Yucatan Peninsula and other regions such as Puebla and Michoacán, based on the use of native bees.

The features of European bee as their docility and disease resistance were favoring for beekeeping, but in the Yucatan kept the Melipona beecheii or native bee as favorite to produce honey.

In the first half of the twentieth century, particularly between 1911 and 1940, the development of beekeeping was very slow, this activity was almost experimental in some regions and in other more rustic. However during the second half of the twentieth century it developed commercially on the basis of the European honeybee.

Since 1950, the Mexican beekeeping began to show signs of its prosperous future as they began the first exports carried out in two distinct regions, thereby stage of a modern commercial beekeeping that located in subsequent years between starts the first in the world.

The national honey production in 2006 was 55, 970 tons at an estimated value over $ 134 million. More than 50 percent of production was concentrated in the states of Yucatán, Campeche, Jalisco, Veracruz and Guerrero.

Of total domestic production, almost 50 percent is exported. During the first half of 2007 the exported amount of honey totaled $ 33.5 million, 20 percent more than the same period last year.

Mexican honey production goes mainly to countries such as Germany (52 percent of total exports and where Mexico ranks second as a supplier), UK (12 percent of Mexican honey, being the fifth largest supplier Mexico) Saudi Arabia ( 12%), United States (10%), Switzerland (8%) and others (6%).

Figures products of the hive

Wax production for the past seven years has seen a growth, from 0.99 thousand tons in 1996 to 2.5 thousand tons in 2003.

During 1996 pollen production was estimated at 37 tonnes, while in the next five years decreased significantly, to increase again in the year 2002, to 39.6 tons.

The propolis production nationwide in early 2002 recorded 3.3 tons.