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Melipona beecheii is a species of eusocial stingless bee.It is native to Central America from the Yucatán Peninsula in the north to Costa Rica in the south. [2] M. beecheii was cultivated in the Yucatán Peninsula starting in the pre-Columbian era by the ancient Maya civilization.
Known to natives of north and central Mexico by its Nahuatl name, coaxihuitl and by the south eastern natives as xtabentún (in Mayan), it is a perennial climbing vine with white flowers, often grown as an ornamental plant. Its flowers secrete copious amount of nectar, and the honey that bees make from it
Xtabentún (Spanish pronunciation: [(i)ʃtaβenˈtun]) is an anise liqueur made in Mexico's Yucatán region from anise seed and fermented honey produced by honey bees from the nectar of xtabentún flowers. Rum is then added to the anise and honey mixture.
Balché is a mildly intoxicating beverage that was commonly consumed by the ancient Maya in what is now Mexico and upper Central America. Today, it is still common among the Maya . The drink is made from the bark of a leguminous tree, Lonchocarpus violaceus , which is soaked in honey and water, and fermented. [ 1 ]
Ah Muzen Cab is a Melipona bee. [1] The deity is the creator of the Earth and Universe in the fourth and final cycle of the cosmos, according to Maya peoples in the Yucatán Peninsula. Ah Muzen Cab is the protector of M. beecheii and goes to the underworld to free trapped life forces. The bee god also unifies Ah Uuk Cheknal and Uuk Taz Kab. [1]
In a study to identify which insects pollinated the flowers of the Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa), it was found that the flowers were visited by a number of bee species, including E. meriana, which visited the tree early in the day. Both males and females were observed collecting nectar from the base of the flower's lower lip. [14]
In return, the bees pollinate crops, garden flowers, and bushland during their search for nectar and pollen. While a number of beekeepers fill a small niche market for bush honey, native meliponines only produce small amounts and the structure of their hives makes the honey difficult to extract.
The Kalahari Desert's San people tell of a bee that carried a mantis across a river. The exhausted bee left the mantis on a floating flower but planted a seed in the mantis's body before it died. The seed grew to become the first human. [5] In Egyptian mythology, bees grew from the tears of the sun god Ra when they landed on the desert sand. [6]