The short documentary Mel da Floresta – Xingu, deals with a large beekeeping project developed in the middle Xingu by the government of the municipality of Feliz Natal in partnership with Professor Clarice Saueressig and seeks to lead, through the “Recuo Method”, income generation for the original peoples of the middle Xingu, productive and environmental sustainability, practices that preserve the forest and its biodiversity.
The implementation and development of the project also creates a nursery/sanctuary for bees, a species currently threatened with extinction and responsible for around 75% of crops and 80% of flowering plant species, which depend on animal pollination and bees constitute as the main biotic pollinators of nature, according to a study carried out by the University of São Paulo . Africanized bees are currently the majority.
The “Recuo Method” developed by Professor Clarice Saueressig is innovative and revolutionary, in the words of Professor Post-Doctor in Zootechnics at IFMT in the municipality of Sorriso
... the Recoo method is in line with the tendency to make agricultural production increasingly sustainable. “It took us more than 50 years to observe and understand the proper way to work with Africanized bees in our country. Therefore, teaching more environmentally appropriate forms of management, which contribute to the increase in beekeeping productivity and also guarantee greater safety for beekeepers involved in the management of their creations and neighboring communities is a great advance. It is essential that our students and new beekeepers already learn with these new management models, and the Recuo method is, without a doubt, a great technological advance in relation to the traditional management of these Africanized bees. (Available at: https://srs.ifmt.edu.br/conteudo/noticia/ifmt-ajuda-difundir-tecnica-inovadora-para-o-manejo-de-abelhas-africanizadas-na-producao-de-mel/ .
The “Recoil Method” is developed in Africanized bees, a hybrid species, the result of crossing African bees with European bees. Its characteristics are more aggressive, more resistant to diseases and more productive. However, Africanized bees do not respect the smoke used to harvest the crop. According to Professor Clarice, the philosophy behind this technique, according to her, is not to stress the insects unnecessarily during the handling and harvesting of honey. With less stress during harvests, bees are stronger, produce more and more often.
While in the traditional method the bees are dispersed with an intense use of smoke, forcing the swarm to exit through the top of the box, in the Recuo the person who is harvesting honey must use smoke in a minimum amount, and aiming to direct the swarm to calmly leave through the alvado, which is an opening at the bottom of the box used in the production (hence the name retreat). “The big secret is not to throw smoke on the front and not to handle the box from the front, always from behind and calmly, listening to the sounds emitted and the behavior of the hive.
The BEEKEEPING project: Implementation of beekeeping in the Middle Xingú region by traditional and rural peoples, developed by the government of the municipality of Feliz Natal, had the support of the Public Prosecutor's Office which, through partnerships, directed the illegally seized wood to the Center for Resocialization of municipality of Sorriso, where the inmates produce the honey collection boxes that are sent to the Xingu villages.
In this way, the film seeks to capture not only the exuberance present in the locations and the daily life of the Arayó village, but to document an extraordinary action that brings together income generation, since the honey produced will be commercialized, sustainability and preservation of an endangered species and of of paramount importance to our ecosystem.
The film begins by flying over the river and correlating our consumer society and the need to preserve indigenous peoples, their culture and territoriality. The before, during and post-pandemic for the visited village. The explanation through testimony of the implementation project of beekeeping in the Xingú and the “Recuo Method” and finally, the indigenous community developing the method and its future perspectives in practice.
Thus, we chose to unfold the narrative in three parts:
Part 1 – The village – at the beginning, we will approach the exuberance of the fauna and flora, as well as the daily life of the village, its origins and testimonies from before, during and after the pandemic. Closed shots in testimonials with details of the body in contrast to open shots of the forest and the village.
Part 2 – Beekeeping in the Xingu – in this second part we delve into the BEEKEEPING project: Implementation of beekeeping in the Middle Xingú region by traditional and rural peoples, showing its scope through testimonials and images. We understand the importance of the “Recuo Method”, as it was developed and designed for the Xingú indigenous people, the partnerships with the Public Ministry and the Resocialization Center