The Keeper of Sacred Bees Who Took on a Giant

The honey bee is more than an insect for the Maya. The European honey bee has been revered in the Maya homeland for thousands of years. The Maya call the honey made by the animal Xunan kab a sacred drink and medicine because it is used to treat a wide range of illnesses. The god of bees can be seen in relief on the walls of the imposing sea cliff fortress of Tulum, as well as at other ancient sites.

In the tropical forests of Mexico, traditional beekeepers still tend to the Xunan kab colonies. The bees emerge from narrow openings in their log homes each morning to search for flowers and food in the forest and beyond. The sacred bee of the Maya gets into trouble there.

In 2012 the Mexican government granted permission to Monsanto to plant genetically modified soy in Campeche and other states on the peninsula without first consulting local communities. Multiple studies have shown that exposure to the main ingredient in the weedkiller, glyphosate, negatively impacts bees, including by impairing behavior and changing the composition of the animals. Soy is self-pollinating and doesn't rely on insects, but bees do visit the plants while they're there. The bees of the Maya were dying in high numbers. Leydy Pech heard her voice.

Pech, a traditional Maya beekeeper from the small Campeche city of Hopelch, advocated for sustainable agriculture and the integration of Indigenous knowledge into modern practice. She was stirred to action by the new threat. She led an assault on the Monsanto program on multiple fronts, including staging protests at ancient Maya sites. The crux of the legal argument by Pech and her allies was that the government had violated its own law by failing to consult with Indigenous communities before granting the permit to Monsanto. The Supreme Court of Mexico unanimously agreed in 2015. The permit to plant the crops was revoked two years later.

The fight was more than just about protecting the bee. The campaign was to protect the environment, the communities that rely on it, and a way of life that is threatened by climate change.

She said that less forest means less honey and less money for families who keep it. The killing of bees has led to more poverty.

The legal argument Pech and her allies used to take on Monsanto has become a template for other Indigenous communities. Pech received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2020 for her fierce protection of the bees and the health of her community. She now uses her voice to advocate for environmental causes throughout the Americas, and stresses that the fight is not over even in the dense forests where her bees are.

Pech, who described her calling as a beekeeper as ancestral, told Living on Earth: "Struggles like these are long and generational." Our responsibility is to involve our children and grandchildren in the fight for justice. Having land to call your own is having a sense of belonging.