There are, at least,
six different kinds of bees. The first is the same with the cotton bee of
Europe, with which it agrees, out only in size, shape, and colour, 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 Estabentùn,
of an aromatic flavour, 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 Estabentùn, from which the honey has
derived its name (z). The third species resembles in its form, the winged ants,
but is smaller than the common 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 is 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 greyish colour, but of a fine flavour. 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 form, in
subterraneous cavities; and the honey is four, and somewhat bitter. The Tlalpipiolli,
which is the sixth species, is black and yellow, of the size of the common bee,
but has no sting. (The History of Mexico, Collected from Spanish and Mexican
Historians, From Manuscripts and Ancient Paintings of the Indians: Illustrated
by Charts, and Other Copper Plates; To Which are Added, Critical Dissertations
on the Land, the Animals, and Inhabitants of Mexico, 2 vols. [trans.
Francesco Saverio Clavigero; London: J. Johnson, 1807], 1:68-69)
