TH0MA8 1 THE BEES OF YUCATAN. 115 



The wings and abdomen are, It is true, very mucli like the elytra and 

 abdomen of beetles, but there are abundant reasons for believing that the 

 opinion I have advanced here, which appears to have been held by Abbe 

 Brasseur de Bourbourg, is correct. 



First. We find nowhere any reason for believing that beetles played 

 an important part in the religious ceremonies of the natives of Yucatan. 



Second. We do know, from the most satisfactory evidence, notwith- 

 standing the assertions of some writers to the contrary, that bees were 

 abundant in some sections, and there is reason to believe that they were 

 domesticated and reared for their honey ; in fact, the collecting of honey 

 appears to have been an important industry in some localities. I quote in 

 proof of this statement from Clavigero, Vol. I, page 68: 



"There are at least six different kinds of bees. The first is the same 

 with the common bee of Europe, with which it agrees, not only in size, 

 shape, and color, but also in its disposition and manners and in the qualities 

 of its honey and wax. The second species, which differs from the first only 

 in having no sting, is the bee of Yucatan and Chiapa, which makes the 

 fine, clear honey of Estabentun, of an aromatic flavor, superior to that of 

 all the other kinds of honey with which we are acquainted. The honey is 

 taken from them six times a year; that is, once in every other month; but 

 the best is that which is got in November, being made from a fragrant 

 white flower, like jessamine, which blows in September, called in that 

 country Estabentun, from which the honey has derived its name. 



"The third species resembles in its form the winged ants, but is smaller 

 than the conunon bee and without a sting. This insect, which is peculiar 

 to warm and temperate climates, forms nests in size and shape resembling 

 sugar-loaves, and even sometimes greatly exceeding these in size, which are 

 suspended from rocks or from trees, and particularly from the oak. The 

 populousness of these hives are much greater than those of the common bee. 

 The nymphs of this bee, which are eatable, are white and round, like a 

 pearl. The honey is of a grayish color, but of a fine flavor. The fourth 

 species is a yellow bee, smaller than the common one, but, like it, furnished 

 with a sting; its honey is not equal to those already mentioned. The 

 fifth is a small bee without a sting, which constructs hives of an orbicular 



