From 2018... So, it looks like a relative of the #EuropeanHoneyBee did once exist in #NorthAmerica -- but they went extinct many years ago!
"In 2009, paleontologists uncovered a single fossilized worker bee in the Stewart Valley Basin of west-central Nevada. This was no European honey bee. It was Apis nearctica, an extinct species of honey bee that lived during the middle Miocene epoch—14 million years ago. Preserved in a delicate paper shale deposit alongside other ancient insects, the fossil offers the first definitive evidence of #HoneyBees native to North America."
However, #NativeBees (#MeliponaBeecheii) produce honey as well!
"Ancient Honey, Without Honey Bees?
If honey bees didn’t return to North America until the 1600s, how did the Maya harvest honey long before that?
The answer lies in a different lineage of bees entirely: stingless bees of the tribe #Meliponini. These bees, especially those in the genus Melipona, are native to the tropics and subtropics. Revered by the ancient Maya, stingless bees were more than pollinators—they were spiritual symbols. The Mayan bee god, #AhMuzenCab, was honored for the gift of honey.
The Maya’s favorite stingless bee was Melipona beecheii, or kolil kab in Yucatec Maya, meaning 'royal lady.' Unlike the vast colonies of honey bees, Melipona beecheii lives in smaller colonies and produces just two liters of honey per year—a fraction of the five gallons a typical honey bee hive can yield.
Families traditionally kept hives in hollow logs near their homes. But the spread of aggressive Africanized honey bees has threatened this ancient practice, as stingless bees are unable to compete for resources."
https://nativebeeology.com/2018/01/26/native-honey-bees/
#WorldBeeDay #YucatanBees #MayanBees #NativeBees #BeeHistory
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