Comparación de especies de abejas comestibles en la sierra de Jibóia, (Bahia, Brasil) y sierra de Zongolica (Veracruz, México)

Abstract

The traditional knowledge and use of bee species in the Sierra de Zongolica, Mexico, and the Sierra de Jiboia, Brazil were compared. In each area, open-ended interviews were conducted with inhabitants whose economy is one of subsistence. We recorded the cultivation and protocultivation practices of the insect species they use, as well as the length of time they have been doing it. In Zongolica, where the population is of Nahuatl origin, stinging bees (Apis mellifera mellifera L.) were reared, and only rarely any species of stingless bee. There are also various protocultivation practices of wasps, stingless bees and two lepidopteran larvae known as "cuecla" and "cuetla". It is also in this area where the villagers gave a higher value to this renewable natural resource, also providing them a wider range of uses such as food, medicine, craft and decorations. Some species are even traded at the municipal market. In the population of Pedra Branca, while there are six species of stingless bees that are cultivated, these are not very abundant. For the stinging bees {Apis) there is no cultivation, but land is rented for others to place their hives. The way bees are raised in each locality is the same, for both stinging and stingless bees. In both populations this helps the rural production system and therefore the nutrition of people.