Page:A Study of the Manuscript Troano.djvu/181

Rh The wings and abdomen are, it is true, very much 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, notwithstanding 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 Estabentùn, 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 Estabentùn, from which the honey has derived its name.

"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 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