The Living Basin of Mexico

This journey into the living bio-cultural memory of the Basin of Mexico is a day trip shaped around bees, murals, and ancient water in the Texcoco basin, where Nezahualcóyotl ruled in the 15th century. At a working apiary on the outskirts of Texcoco, Mariana and Ana — third-generation beekeepers — tend pollinators on land that has been farmed for centuries. They introduce you to the fragile web connecting insects, soil, and human survival in one of Mesoamerica's most important biocultural regions. From there, you travel to the walls of the Autonomous University of Chapingo, where between 1923 and 1927 Diego Rivera painted Tierra Fecundada — Fertile Land — in a former hacienda chapel: peasants and revolution, fertility and conquest, indigenous land philosophy and the agricultural cycles of a country he had just returned to. The day closes at the baths of Nezahualcóyotl on the hill of Tezcutzingo — a pre-Hispanic site the Poet-King's hydraulic engineering can still be seen.

This experience weaves together ecological knowledge, living art, and history. It asks: what does it mean to sustain a relationship with the land in the Basin of Mexico today? This is an experience to understand the socio-environmental past, present, and future of this great valley. Mariana and Ana's apiary is a working site based on fair-trade principles and ancestral knowledge passed down three generations. Their honey is made from Acahual — the native wild sunflower that has grown here as long as there has been a valley. The Chapingo murals are among Rivera's most significant works, yet far less visited than his city-center pieces. Rivera painted the chapel as a temple to land and labor, modeled on Renaissance frescoes but fully Mexican in subject. Photography is prohibited; the work must be seen in person. The baths of Nezahualcóyotl bring the question of water — its presence, loss, political weight — into sharp focus. The lake it once served has now almost entirely disappeared.

Along with her sister Mariana, Ana is the third generation of a living heritage, guided by the bees and the ancestral wisdom of her family. Based in Texcoco, near Mexico City, they are the founders of a company that produces honey, beauty, and skincare products from beeswax and honey of the basin. Their work began with what they call "landscape honeys" — honeys defined by the specific plants of a specific place — always in collaboration with local beekeepers and under fair-trade principles. Their vision then expanded into high-end bee cosmetics, with ingredients selected to deliver the best of nature to the skin. For this day, Mariana and Ana bring their working knowledge of the apiary alongside collaborators who guide visitors through the Chapingo murals and Tezcutzingo, drawing out the connections between bees, land, water, and memory that hold the day together.

Wear practical clothing — jeans and long sleeves are recommended for the apiary visit. Comfortable closed-toe shoes are essential for the 30-minute uphill hike at Tezcutzingo. Skip perfume, scented lotion, and strongly scented sunscreens; bees react to strong scents. Bring sunscreen, cap or hat, water, and rain protection depending on the season. ** Hive openings are weather-dependent and cannot occur in rain.