Bees, Forests, and Income: A Regenerative Approach

How four Reciprocity Fund borrowers are using honey to build resilient communities and ecosystems

Honey businesses aren’t just sweet — they’re smart, sustainable solutions.

​Bees pollinate plants, protect biodiversity, and support food systems. Beekeeping creates income for rural families. And honey production is regenerative, not extractive — giving more than it takes from the land.

This month, we’re highlighting four Reciprocity Fund borrowers using honey to strengthen both livelihoods and ecosystems:

Miel de Mixtepec (Oaxaca, Mexico)
An indigenous woman led cooperative producing organic honey in the Mixteca region. Founded in 2011, it supports Chatino, Zapotec, and Mixtec beekeepers by providing stable income and ensuring pollination of native crops like squash and pumpkin.

A loan from The Reciprocity Fund is helping the cooperative upgrade its factory and qualify for export certification, unlocking better prices for its members.

Watch their story

​Api-Natura (Maya Forest, Mexico)
Api-Natura works with over 660 Indigenous beekeepers, 80% of whom are Mayan or Chol. Together, they manage more than 55,000 hives across 32,000 hectares of rainforest — preserving one of the Americas’ most biodiverse regions.

Our loan supports income stability and a transition to biodegradable packaging.

​EDUCE (Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico)
​A long-standing cooperative sourcing organic honey from 42 collectives — over 900 families and 26,000 hives — while preserving Mayan beekeeping traditions and protecting native forest.

A loan from TRF is helping EDUCE expand solar energy use, lowering costs and deepening their sustainability.

​BeeHiveMex (Yucatán & Chiapas, Mexico)
Supplied by 379 Indigenous beekeepers — 40% of them women — BeeHiveMex blends modern markets with ancestral practice. It supports biodiversity across 400,000 hectares of forest, offers training in native languages, and honors local governance systems.

Our working capital loan is helping the enterprise scale its 2025 harvest and grow its impact.

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Do you know of an enterprise that's using nature to drive positive change?

​We’re always looking to partner with regenerative businesses across Latin America and Southeast Asia.
​Let us know at [email protected]