Gumbo Limbo and Stingless Bees
During
our tour of Uxmal, our guide pointed over at a
tree with green and orange patches of peeling bark. "That's the
Tourist Tree," he said, going on to explain that the Gumbo Limbo (Bursera
simaruba) is
often nicknamed the Tourist Tree due to the resemblance of the bark to
the sunburnt skin of unfortunate tourists.
The Gumbo Limbo tree
grows wild from California and Florida, through Central and South
America, and across the Caribbean islands. But the species is so
useful that it is also extensively planted. Farmers often cut
three foot long limbs, trim each end, and poke them into the ground to
create fence posts. The severed limbs will quickly root and grow,
merely needing to be trimmed back each year so that the branches don't
overshadow the field. The trees are also used as windbreaks, for
firewood and light lumber, and the resin is collected to use as glue,
varnish, incense, and perfume. Finally, the bark has been used
medicinally to sooth itches, sores, and --- ironically enough ---
sunburn.
What really caught my eye,
though, was the importance of Gumbo Limbo in the life of the Stingless
Bees (Melipona
beecheii), which
have been raised in domestication by the Maya of the Yucatan peninsula
for thousands of years. Traditionally, a hive of Stingless Bees
would be collected from the wild by cutting off the entire hollow tree
limb housing the bees, carrying the log home, sealing the ends, opening
a small hole for the bees to fly in and out of, and hanging the hive on
the side of a building. The sealed ends of the log could be
opened up when necessary to allow the beekeeper to remove honey and
wax, or to split the hive to increase the number of colonies. The
Stingless Bees were considered to be sacred, with images of bees found
on various Mayan artifacts, and some scientists believe that the honey
from the Stingless Bees was second in importance only to maize in the
culture of the Maya.
Although honey from the
Stingless Bees is considered tastier than honey from the European
Honeybee, the small bees produce much less than their larger
counterparts. So it should come as no surprise that the
European Honeybee became the primary bee species raised in the Yucatan
in the twentieth century. Currently, populations of Stingless
Bees are declining rapidly, partly because of lack of interest and
knowledge, but also partly due to environmental degradation.
While the European Honeybee is quite content pollinating clover and
field crops, the Mayan Stingless Bee requires mature, flowering
trees. In fact, one of their favorite foods is the nectar and
pollen from the Gumbo Limbo tree.
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