As a result, vanilla orchids that grow in the wild are also in danger of becoming extinct. It is ( maybe was) the only bee on earth that was capable of pollinating a vanilla orchid. Vanilla beans have survived through centuries because of the Mexican melipona bee. In this video, you can see how hand pollination takes place, in vanilla plantations all around the world. Even today, the vast majority of the world's vanilla beans are grown through hand pollination. It had to be a small melipona bee from Mexico that is nearly extinct.Įventually, the Spaniards figured out the problem and the process of hand pollination began. It's popularity grew and vanilla bean plantations quickly began to spread across Europe, into Africa and Asia.īut here was the problem: The vanilla vines grew and the flowers bloomed, but no fruit (no vanilla beans) grew from them. When Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez discovered the spice, he brought a large supply back with him to Spain and introduced it to the King and Royal Court. By the 1400's, the Aztecs had begun using vanilla beans to enhance the taste of chocolate. The Totonacs of Veracruz Mexico are the first people in the world known to have cultivated vanilla beans. Make new friends, learn a new craft and get 3 0% OFF your first vanilla extract starter kit by signing up for a virtual extract making class by clicking here and registering today.Īlmost every vanilla bean in the world is, sort of, a Mexican vanilla bean.
Vanilla is the 2nd most expensive spice on the planet, just behind saffron, and a very unique bee that is nearly extinct is behind the vanilla orchid's proliferation.
South Pacific & Tahitian Retail Vanilla.
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