Uses and biocultural importance of honey in Yoreme-Mayo communities in northern Sinaloa

Abstract

Beekeeping has been present in the Yoreme-Mayo communities for a long time, however, the role that this activity and its products play in these native groups of the region is little known, so the aim of this research is to identify the uses and biocultural value of honey in Yoreme-Mayo communities in northern Sinaloa. Methods and techniques: It is a descriptive, qualitative and cross-sectional study, whereby the survey application technique was applied using a questionnaire intended to 43 postgraduate students from the Autonomous Indigenous University of Mexico belonging to this indigenous group. The sampling was carried out with the snowball technique. With the data collected, an Excel database was generated, systematized into four sections: a) honey consumption, b) beekeeping and its economic importance in the Yoreme-Mayo community, c) uses of honey and d) biocultural value of honey. Results: most of the consumption in their diet due to its medicinal properties (47.72%), and it is generally consumed once a month (30.23%). The most important characteristics for the consumer were the season of the year in which the honey was produced and the colour (both with 20.93%), where amber was preferred (31.81%). 52.27% of the participants think that its natural origin is also important. Although for some consumers the place of origin of the honey is not very important as long as it is from local hives or combs (27.77%), a certain tendency for those whose origin is the scrubland (16.66%) was mentioned. Traditional beekeeping represents an economic livelihood for Yoreme-Mayo families, since the majority stated that many of them depend on the production of honey for their monthly expenditure (42.50%). The most common use of honey in the communities is for consumption due to its medicinal properties (51.56%). When we asked about the cultural and/ or spiritual value that honey can have for the Yoremes, they highlighted its use for traditional medicinal preparations (34.21%). Conclusions: the cultural and spiritual value of honey in its community is based on its relationship with the huyya annia, in the pascola dance and in the preservation of identity through traditional practices such as beekeeping.