Sweet profits from Guatemala

Roger Hamilton

The walk to the hives led through what appeared to be abandoned land, a tangle of brush and small trees, many with sharp spines. But for Mauro Hernandez Flores, if his bees like it this way, so does he: apparent wasteland provides the bees in his 35 hives with year-round sustenance. "I like beekeeping better than farming", he said. "My hives earn me the equivalent of US$660 a year, the same that | would make if I cleaned six or seven hectares". While the bees are producing honey, the permanent vegetation protects the soil. It is far from being a natural forest, but it is much more environmentally friendly than a field of beans.

Mauro Hernandez Flores would like to have 160 hives, as his father did. Then he could devote himself exclusively to beekeeping, and would not have to clear and burn any land. "There would be food for my bees, so that my bees could give food to me". When he was 11 years old, his father and two older brothers were killed in the civil conflict in Guatemala, and he and his mother had to struggle to make ends meet. Now 20 years on, he carries on part of his father's legacy.

Joining forces

Mauro Hernandez Flores belongs to the Palestina branch of the Northern Guatemalan Beekeepers' Association, founded four years ago. The Association has 108 members and 11 branches, with each branch selling supplies and equipment to its members, and taking in their honey for sale. The Association is assisted by the NGO Mesoamerican Cooperation for Development and Peace, which in turn carries out several projects for the Petén Sustainable Development Programme, financed by the IDB.

Petén is perfect for honey production. The local farmers use no pesticides, so all the honey can be marketed as organic. Also, the large extensions of natural areas produce flowers all year round. Importantly, no sugar cane is grown in the area, so there is no danger that the bees will suck their juice, which makes the honey taste like ordinary cane sugar. With support from the IDB programme, Mauro Hernandez Flores has made apiculture study trips to Chile, Honduras and Mexico, helping him perfect his skills and teaching him how to make better hives and to reduce the threat of diseases. He is grateful that he now receives six times more for his honey than he did just a few years ago. Each year he invests the equivalent of US$260 in frames, boxes, fencing, and other materials. and receives the equivalent of US$530 for his bees' honey. He grows corn and beans as well, but honey gives him a better return for his investments in terms of time and money invested.

Mauro Hernandez Flores' protective gloves are worn and full of holes nevertheless he reached into the hives and took out a frame. He brushed off the bees and showed how to distinguish the combs that contained honey from those with pollen and bee larvae, whilst the bees formed an angry cloud around the human trespassers. Using a knife he cut off thick, dripping hunks of honeycomb, some of which contained larvae and pollen. These would be eaten later in a ritual of praise for the bees that includes spitting the chewed wax on the ground.

At the Association's Palestina office, Mauro Hernandez Flores gave his guests soda bottles filled with honey. He is happy to be earning a living that helps, not harms, the environment. Honey production provides income and a reason to preserve natural areas. Bees from hives belonging to co-operative members living near the protected forest areas find flowers easily. The forest guards are doing a better job keeping out poachers and illegal timber cutters than in years past. But they cannot keep out the bees!

Source: IDBAmérica Magazine

INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

The IDB was established in 1959 as a development institution with novel mandates and tools that have proved so effective that it became the model on which all other regional and sub-regional multilateral development banks were created. The IDB is the main source of multilateral financing for economic, social and institutional development projects, as well as trade and regional integration programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

IDBAmérica Scholarship Competition for university students, 18-30 years old, in Latin America and the Caribbean. Submit an original article describing a successful initiative to tackle a problem in health, education, crime, environment, corruption, employment, governance or other social area in her/his country by 15 December 2005. See www.iadb.org/idbamerica