The question came up about when the honey bee was introduced into North America. Below are my notes...
On a voyage from England to the New World, European honeybees and hives of Apis mellifera, were sent to North America in 1621, by the Council of the Virginia Company. A letter dated December 5, 1621, and sent from London to the Governor and Council of the Virginia Colony in North America confirms this early record (Smith 1977). In that letter is a list of provisions being sent to the Virginia Colony aboard two ships, the Bona Nova and Hopewell. Included in the list are references to various types of seeds, fruit trees, "pidgeons (sic), beehives, and 57 young maids to make wives for the planters."
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Honey bees, the old "DARK" bee, apis mellifera mellifera, were first brought to America in 1621, to the Virgin Islands and Guadeloupe in 1688, to Australia in 1839, and to California in the early 1850's.
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And although European settlers introduced the honeybees, Apis Mellifera, to New England in 1638, Mexico and Central America had already developed beekeeping.
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There were no indigenous honey-producing bees of major significance in the New World. American Indians utilized honey from tropical stingless bees (Family Meliponinae), these were indigenous to both South and Central America. When many of the Central American Indians were first contacted by the Spanish during the early and mid 1500s, the Spanish found that beekeeping and bee hive hunting were well-established traditions in almost every sub-tropical and tropical region of the New World. Pre-colonial bee hives of Melipona beecheii (Crane and Graham, 1985) were kept by the indigenous natives of Central and South America and consisted of large, dried gourds, hollow logs, or cylindrical earthenware pots that had an entrance hole near the middle but were sealed at both ends. Reports from the first Spanish ships that landed on the island of Cozumel, Mexico , in 1518 noted that the island had "many beehives and much wax and honey" (Crane and Graham, 1985). According to Bishop Fray Diego de Landa, who traveled throughout the Yucatan region of Mexico during the mid 1500s, the area abounded in honey and it was used by the Maya as a sweetner and to make a type of fermented, alcoholic drink or mead (Free, 1982). In Crane's discussion of the history of honey (Crane, 1975a) she gives a more detailed report of Bishop de Landa's trips to the Yucatan region. Crane notes that historical accounts of his trips indicate that in 1562 he sacked the ancient Maya libraries of the region and ordered all Maya books (codicies) burned in an effort to prevent the Maya from continuing to follow their non-Christian beliefs. He did, however, spare three of the Maya codicies and sent those copies back to Spain, where they remain in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. In one of the codicies there is a detailed series of drawings showing ancient Mayans tending bees, collecting honey, and fermenting honey to make mead.
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as of 1985 archaeologists had identified pairs of carved, limestone disks that were once used to seal the ends of beehives in at least six archaeological sites in the Yucatan region of Mexico, four sites in Belize, and two sites in Guatemala. At one site in Cozumel, Mexico, 225 of the stone disks were found buried in deposits at a Maya site that dated to about A.D. 1400 (Crane and Graham 1985).
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records from the Spanish conquest period of Mexico confirm the importance of honey use by Aztec and Maya cultures. Hernando Cortez reported that when he arrived in the Aztec capitol of Tenochtitian (Mexico City) in 1519, large supplies of honey and beeswax were being sold and traded. He also reported that honey was one of the important tribute items collected annually by the Aztec rulers (Free, 1982). Other early Spanish reports from regions of Mexico estimated that about 2 kg of honey could be taken annually from a single stingless bee colony.
On a voyage from England to the New World, European honeybees and hives of Apis mellifera, were sent to North America in 1621, by the Council of the Virginia Company. A letter dated December 5, 1621, and sent from London to the Governor and Council of the Virginia Colony in North America confirms this early record (Smith 1977). In that letter is a list of provisions being sent to the Virginia Colony aboard two ships, the Bona Nova and Hopewell. Included in the list are references to various types of seeds, fruit trees, "pidgeons (sic), beehives, and 57 young maids to make wives for the planters."
===============================
Honey bees, the old "DARK" bee, apis mellifera mellifera, were first brought to America in 1621, to the Virgin Islands and Guadeloupe in 1688, to Australia in 1839, and to California in the early 1850's.
============================
And although European settlers introduced the honeybees, Apis Mellifera, to New England in 1638, Mexico and Central America had already developed beekeeping.
============================
There were no indigenous honey-producing bees of major significance in the New World. American Indians utilized honey from tropical stingless bees (Family Meliponinae), these were indigenous to both South and Central America. When many of the Central American Indians were first contacted by the Spanish during the early and mid 1500s, the Spanish found that beekeeping and bee hive hunting were well-established traditions in almost every sub-tropical and tropical region of the New World. Pre-colonial bee hives of Melipona beecheii (Crane and Graham, 1985) were kept by the indigenous natives of Central and South America and consisted of large, dried gourds, hollow logs, or cylindrical earthenware pots that had an entrance hole near the middle but were sealed at both ends. Reports from the first Spanish ships that landed on the island of Cozumel, Mexico , in 1518 noted that the island had "many beehives and much wax and honey" (Crane and Graham, 1985). According to Bishop Fray Diego de Landa, who traveled throughout the Yucatan region of Mexico during the mid 1500s, the area abounded in honey and it was used by the Maya as a sweetner and to make a type of fermented, alcoholic drink or mead (Free, 1982). In Crane's discussion of the history of honey (Crane, 1975a) she gives a more detailed report of Bishop de Landa's trips to the Yucatan region. Crane notes that historical accounts of his trips indicate that in 1562 he sacked the ancient Maya libraries of the region and ordered all Maya books (codicies) burned in an effort to prevent the Maya from continuing to follow their non-Christian beliefs. He did, however, spare three of the Maya codicies and sent those copies back to Spain, where they remain in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. In one of the codicies there is a detailed series of drawings showing ancient Mayans tending bees, collecting honey, and fermenting honey to make mead.
=====================================
as of 1985 archaeologists had identified pairs of carved, limestone disks that were once used to seal the ends of beehives in at least six archaeological sites in the Yucatan region of Mexico, four sites in Belize, and two sites in Guatemala. At one site in Cozumel, Mexico, 225 of the stone disks were found buried in deposits at a Maya site that dated to about A.D. 1400 (Crane and Graham 1985).
=========================================
records from the Spanish conquest period of Mexico confirm the importance of honey use by Aztec and Maya cultures. Hernando Cortez reported that when he arrived in the Aztec capitol of Tenochtitian (Mexico City) in 1519, large supplies of honey and beeswax were being sold and traded. He also reported that honey was one of the important tribute items collected annually by the Aztec rulers (Free, 1982). Other early Spanish reports from regions of Mexico estimated that about 2 kg of honey could be taken annually from a single stingless bee colony.
