NEW MELIPONARY AT FAIRMONT MAYAKOBA!

In early 2011, Fairmont Mayakoba welcomed a colony of Melipona becheeii bees to its 48-acre property as part of an effort to sustain this local insect and contribute to its conservation. The hive of stingless bees resides in the hotel’s Willow Stream Spa Garden, where guests are welcome to buzz by for a peek. An important part of the Mayan culture for over a thousand years, the Melipona honey and wax remains important for medicinal use, even today. The bees have arrived as part of a partnership between the hotel and the Melitsak, a local group of 14 women who have developed bee-related goods, who donated the hive in thanks for the hotel’s ongoing support.

The honey produced on site will be combined with honey from other Melipona hives throughout the area for use in custom spa treatments at Willow Stream Spa and in select dishes at each of the hotel’s award-wining restaurants. An integral part of this initiative is Fairmont Mayakoba’s Ecology Manager, Lyn Santos, who has been with the property since the resort’s pre-opening stages, when she was a member of the environmental protection team that made sure the ecosystems were left in better condition than when they were found. Among her duties, Lyn works with non-profits, including Señores D’Zula, who are preserving ancestral Mayan medicinal knowledge, and Flor de Tajonal, a local project that protects the Melipona bees from extinction. 
For more information visit http://www.fairmont.com/mayakoba