Native Bees Program - Flora Nueva

NATIVE BEES

PROGRAM

This program is the beating heart of the Symbiocene — our vision for an era where humanity stops negotiating with nature and starts belonging to it. Here, we shed the role of exploiters and become what we were always meant to be: humble allies of the native bees.

We don’t seek dominance. We seek symbiosis — a relationship of mutual benefit where our prosperity is inseparable from our commitment to protect life.

From this virtuous relationship comes an exceptional honey.

Naturally scarce. Biologically powerful.

One of the most active and complex honeys on the planet — born from intact ecosystems and deeply respectful stewardship.

Born from the land. Offered to the world.

Stingless Native Bees

Where balance gives rise to excellence.

In the tropical forests of Costa Rica live extraordinary bees — small, silent and essential.

Stingless native bees have co-evolved with local flora for millions of years, sustaining the ecological balance that allows entire territories to flourish. Where they thrive, biodiversity grows.

The Native Bees Program of Flora Nueva is born from a commitment to protect, raise awareness and give value to these pollinators as biological and cultural heritage. We drive concrete actions of conservation, knowledge transmission and the strengthening of bonds between rural communities and their ecosystems. This is not just about producing — it is about regenerating, learning and preserving.

As a tangible expression of this vision, we have built a dedicated supply chain around a truly exceptional honey. Not a conventional honey — a pot honey, naturally stored in delicate wax vessels, harvested in minimal volumes and managed with deep respect for the natural cycle of the hives.

Every harvest is limited. Every batch is unique. Every drop is a living concentrate of the territory.

Our production is built exclusively around two emblematic species:

The mariola, Tetragonisca angustula — one of the smallest bees in the world, resilient and social. Her honey, delicate and luminous, is remarkable for its biological activity — truly without equal.
The soncuano, Scaptotrigona pectoralis — more intense in character and powerful in structure, producing a deep floral honey that unites pleasure and vitality.

We have chosen to focus on these two species for their ecological excellence and productive coherence. But our commitment goes far beyond the product — we work for the conservation and strengthening of all native bees.

NATURALISTIC MELIPONICULTURE: A PACT OF LIFE

We stand against extractive industrial beekeeping. We practice Naturalistic Meliponiculture — built on reciprocity and a fair, respectful exchange.

The role of the ally — US (Flora Nueva United Meliponiculture Network)

Families become guardians.

We create safe habitats, protect hives from predators, restore favorable environments and plant nectar-bearing trees and flowers. We work with our communities to reduce herbicides and pesticides — fostering plant diversity and supporting the life of all insects, especially pollinators.

We are also their voice — actively working to protect their environment. We provide continuous training, applied research and shared learning, because understanding their biology and ecology is the best way to protect them. Learning from them is learning to regenerate.

The role of the bees — the architects of balance

The bees, in return, sustain life.

They provide us with essential ecosystem services: pollinating crops, strengthening food security and improving the quality of what we eat. Only when a hive is strong and healthy do they share a part of their honey with us — a rare product of extraordinary biological value.

No extraction — only exchange.

No force — only care.

No domination — only cooperation.

Naturalistic meliponiculture is, above all, a living alliance between territory, community and biodiversity.

NATIVE BEES: BRIDGING TERRITORY AND COMMUNITY

This program lives and grows through shared knowledge and unwavering presence in the field.

Every meliponiculturist receives at least five technical visits a year — because real support means showing up, consistently, wherever they are.

Technical workshops, our Good Practice Guide, standardized hive boxes and tool kits complete the picture — giving every family the tools to work with coherence, efficiency and deep respect for native bees.

Community is everything. Through WhatsApp groups, we keep a living, daily conversation alive — answering questions in real time, sharing discoveries and weaving stronger bonds across the United Meliponiculture Network. This shared space is also the seedbed of our participatory research approach, where the lived experience of families grows alongside the technical and scientific knowledge of the program.

The Native Bees Program is the beating heart of Flora Nueva — its reach and territorial impact are unmatched. It is proof that economic growth, environmental protection and social well-being can thrive together in a single living model of regeneration.

Today, 130 families across the Southern Zone, the Nicoya Peninsula and the Central Pacific are leading the way — building a productive system that restores biodiversity, strengthens ecosystems and creates real, lasting autonomy for their communities.

ETHICAL HARVESTING

When the bee thrives, honey exists.

The bee comes first. Always.

Our golden rule is non-exploitation. We never weaken a colony for profit. Every decision, every practice, every innovation is designed with the bees in mind — first and foremost.

We rigorously weigh each of our 3,000 hives and harvest only the surplus — respecting a minimum weight that guarantees the survival and future prosperity of every colony. Production adapts to the rhythm of the hive, never the other way around.

This principle runs through the entire supply chain: each meliponiculturist manages a maximum of 30 hives, ensuring careful, consistent and respectful attention. The hive boxes have been specifically designed to optimize colony well-being — isolating and protecting a strategic reserve of honey and pollen that is essential to their biological balance.

Ethical harvesting goes hand in hand with a permanent commitment to training and the continuous improvement of hive environments. Every meliponiculturist is supported in creating favorable conditions — floral diversity, shade, ecological connectivity — deepening a symbiotic and sustainable relationship between human beings and bees.

KNOWING EVERY HIVE, PROTECTING EVERY BEE

Native bees demand everything. Their fragility, their biological complexity and their unbreakable bond with ecosystems leave no room for half-measures. So we built something of our own — a technological platform conceived entirely in their service, and in the service of those who protect them.

Our application records the vital history of every hive — location, dynamics, periodic weightings and socioeconomic variables across our 140 producer families — enabling precise, continuous monitoring of the 3,000 hives that make up our supply chain.

This data feeds analysis tools and dynamic reports that guarantee complete traceability, from the hive to every batch of honey. More than a control system — it is a form of responsibility: measure to understand, understand to protect.

Technology structures a rigorous and conscious management: clear limits on the number of hives per meliponiculturist, respect for vital minimum reserves and individualized follow-up. Behind every gram of honey stands a promise — documented, traceable and real. A commitment to the bees, the ecosystems and the communities who make it possible.