Bees have been featured in myth and folklore around the world.Honey andbeeswax have been important resources for humans since at least theMesolithic period, and as a result humans' relationship withbees—particularlyhoney bees—has ranged from encounters with wild bees (both prehistorically and in the present day) tokeeping them agriculturally.[3][4] Bees themselves are often characterized as magically imbued creatures and their honey as adivine gift. Bees hold a special status in some cultures: inAlbanian[5] andLithuanian[6] languages, the words employed to speak about a bee's death are the same as those for a human death and different from those for an animal death, underlining the sacredness of bees.
TheKalahari Desert'sSan 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.[7]
InEgyptian mythology, bees grew from the tears of the sun godRa when they landed on the desert sand.[8]
TheBaganda people ofUganda tell the legend ofKintu, the first man on earth. Kintu lived alone, save for his cow. One day he askedGgulu, who lived in heaven, for permission to marry his daughterNambi. Ggulu sent Kintu a trial of five tests to pass before he would agree. For his final test, Kintu was told to pick Ggulu's own cow out from a group of cattle. Nambi aided Kintu in this final test by transforming herself into a bee and whispering into his ear to choose the one whose horn she landed upon.[9][10][11][12]
InMayan mythology,Ah-Muzen-Cab is one of the Maya gods of bees and honey.[13] One of theMaya Hero Twins, Xbalanque, is also associated with bees and beekeeping under the name or aspect of Mok Chi'.[14] Hobnil, theBacab who represents the East, may be associated with bees and beehives.[15]
According toHittite mythology, the god ofagriculture,Telipinu, went on a rampage and refused to allow anything to grow and animals would not produce offspring. The gods went in search of Telipinu only to fail. Then the goddessḪannaḫanna sent forth a bee to bring him back. The bee found Telipinu, stung him and smeared wax upon him. The god grew even angrier and it was not until the goddessKamrusepa (or a mortal priest, according to some references) used a ritual to send his anger to theUnderworld that Telipinu was calmed.[16]
InHindu mythology,Bhramari was summoned by the gods to kill the demonArunasura who took over the heavens and the three worlds. To kill Arunasura, she stung him numerous times with the help of innumerable black bees emerging from her body. The gods were finally able to take control of the heavens and the celestial worlds again.[17] In addition, the Hindu love godKamadeva's bowstring is made of sugarcane, covered in bees.[18]
In mythology found in Indian,ancient Near East andAegean cultures, the bee was believed to be the sacred insect that bridged the natural world to the underworld.[19][20][21]
Greek mythology has several gods who are associated with bees.Aristaeus is the god of beekeeping. After inadvertently causing the death ofEurydice, who stepped upon a snake while fleeing him, hernymph sisters punished him by killing every one of his bees. Witnessing the empty hives where his bees had dwelt, Aristaeus wept and consultedProteus who advised him to honor the memory of Eurydice by sacrificing four bulls and four cows. Upon doing so, he let them rot and from their corpses rose new bees to fill his empty hives.[9] Prophecy inAncient Greece seems to have been associated with bees. TheHomeric Hymn to Hermes acknowledges that Apollo's gift of prophecy first came to him from three bee-maidens, usually but doubtfully identified with theThriae, atrinity of pre-Hellenic Aegean bee goddesses.[22] In addition, theOracle of Delphi is referred to as "the Delphian bee" byPindar.[b][2][23]
InMycenaean Greek andMinoan myth, the bee was an emblem ofPotnia, an ancient equivalent of 'Dulcis Virgo' also referred to as the "Pure Mother Bee".[24] Her priestesses received the name ofMelissa, ("bee").[25]Artemis inCrete was in particular designated by the adjective 'Britomartis' (Βριτομάρτις) as 'vrito-' had the meaning of 'sweet' and was used interchangeably to signify 'melissa' (bee).[26] According to the Neoplatonic philosopherPorphyry, the priestesses ofDemeter were also called "Melissae", andMelissa was a name of Artemis. This name also designated the goddess's priestesses in the temple of Artemis Ephesia[23]Melisseus was the god of honey and bees, whose daughters Ida and Adrasteia fed the infantZeus with milk and honey when his mother hid him fromCronus.[27]
In European folklore and custom,telling the bees of important events in the family (particularly births and deaths) was vital to keep the bees content and happy in their hive.[28]
In Britain and Ireland there is a folklore where if a bumblebee buzzes around your window at home, there is a guest that will arrive soon. The bumblebee even tells the gender of the visitor based on the tail of the bee. Red means the visitor is male, white means the visitor is a female. It is even said that if you are to kill the bee, the visitor will bring nothing but bad luck.[29]
The Ancients had several Bee Gods and Goddesses, such as the Lithuanian Bee Goddess Austėja and her husband the Bee God Bubilas, the Roman Goddess Mellonia and the Slavic God Zosim; bees were also associated with other Deities such as Artemis, Aphrodite, Brighid, Rhea, and Vishnu.[29]
Bees have a special status forAlbanians. The bee is considered asacred animal, associated with human life. When an animal ceases to live, Albanians use the verbngordh orcof; when a bee ceases to live, they use the verbvdes (which is used to refer to human death). Meaning that for Albanians bees are beings of a higher caste, like humans.[30][5] The bee also has a special status in the Albanian customary law – theKanun – which dedicates specific laws that deal with beehive possession, damage and theft, the value of the bee, and the ownership of swarms of bees.[31]
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