#stingless honey

[keralanaturals]

The Health Benefits of Honey: Nature's Sweetest Superfood

Honey is more than just a natural sweetener; it's a powerhouse of health benefits. This golden liquid, often referred to as "nature's elixir," has been cherished for centuries for its medicinal and nutritional properties. In this post, we'll delve into the myriad health benefits of honey and why it deserves a place in your daily diet.

1. Rich in Antioxidants

Honey is packed with antioxidants, including phenolic acids and flavonoids. These compounds help neutralize free radicals in the body, reducing oxidative stress and lowering the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. The darker the honey, the higher its antioxidant content.

2. Soothes Coughs and Sore Throats

Honey has long been used as a natural remedy for coughs and sore throats. Its soothing properties help coat the throat, reducing irritation and providing relief. Studies have shown that honey is as effective as some over-the-counter cough suppressants, making it a preferred choice for many.

3.Wound Healing and Antibacterial Properties

Honey's antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties make it an effective treatment for wounds and burns. Manuka honey, in particular, is renowned for its potent antibacterial activity. Applying honey to wounds can help prevent infection and promote faster healing.

4. Improves Digestive Health

Honey can be a soothing remedy for digestive issues. It acts as a prebiotic, promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. This can help alleviate symptoms of indigestion and improve overall digestive health. Honey is also gentle on the stomach, making it a good choice for those with sensitive digestive systems.

5.Enhances Skin Health

Honey is a common ingredient in natural skincare products due to its moisturizing and antibacterial properties. It helps keep the skin hydrated, fights acne-causing bacteria, and promotes a healthy, glowing complexion. You can use honey as a face mask or spot treatment to reap these benefits.

6.Supports Heart Health

Regular consumption of honey can contribute to better heart health. The antioxidants in honey help reduce blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and lower the risk of heart disease. Honey's anti-inflammatory properties also support overall cardiovascular health.

7. Boosts Immune System

The antimicrobial properties of honey make it an excellent immune booster. Consuming honey regularly can help strengthen your immune system, making you less susceptible to illnesses. Honey is particularly beneficial during cold and flu season

8.Natural Remedy for Allergies

Local honey is believed to help with seasonal allergies. It contains small amounts of pollen, which can help the body build a tolerance to local allergens. While scientific evidence on this benefit is limited, many people swear by this natural remedy.

Incorporating honey into your daily routine is an easy and delicious way to enhance your overall health. Whether you drizzle it on your morning toast, mix it into your tea, or use it as a natural remedy, honey's health benefits are undeniable. Remember to choose raw, unprocessed honey to maximize its nutritional value. So, the next time you reach for a sweetener, consider opting for honey – nature's sweetest superfood

[slowlydeepestninja]

who ever said as sweet as honey clearly has never tasted stingless bee honey

[apislux]

Where to Buy the Most Authentic Wisdom Bough Honey

Find the most authentic buy of wisdom bough honey at Apis Lux. Sourced from pristine environments, our Wisdom Bough Honey stands out for its purity and exceptional quality. Wisdom Bough Honey is a prized addition to any pantry with its rich flavor and numerous health benefits, including antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. We ensure that each Wisdom Bough Honey jar undergoes rigorous testing to guarantee authenticity and potency.

[crevicedwelling]

if i recall correctly honeybees are actually invasive specifically because we protect them, they out compete the native bees hewre which are more efficient at pollination

more or less true, honeybees can be a real pain for native species. I’ve not read anything from the US about their negative effects (not my interest) but I’ve skimmed a paper about how farmed bees harass other species in Europe and seen videos of them robbing honey from stingless bees in Brazil.

my main issue with them is the publicity, though. “save the bees” campaigns for honeybees is like trying to save endangered parrots and penguins by protecting chickens. there are so many more important species of bee than the one whose spit we eat

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Building a Hornet’s Nest

Male Wasp Hybrid Harem x Feminized Male Reader (CW: Noncon, musk, pheromones, bukkake, gangbang, double penetration, wasp men, oviposition, feminized male reader, drug-like cum, wasp transformation, DNA manipulation, general yandere behavior) Word Count: 3.7k (Sorry that this took so long. Sorry that this is so weird. I hope some people can find the degeneracy within themselves to enjoy it.) 

When your distant uncle had passed away and left you a property you were surprised to say the least. You were more surprised to learn that it was on Arcadia and that your uncle had never lived long enough to go and see it as he had been ill for some time before his passing and he was not particularly old either. Years ago, unknown to most of the family, he had procured a modest plot of land on Arcadia, a distant planet on the fringes of known space. A true modern day frontier. It was known for its mega-flora. With flowers that grew to the size of trees in some cases. It was also known for its giant docile bees. They were just like bees on Earth except much much larger and they were stingless, it was very easy to domesticate them and now people used them on Arcadia to develop many rare and exotic honey types from the strange alien flowers. Your uncle had wanted to be a beekeeper, he was apparently going to invite you on the venture with him seeing as how you were both into farming and working the land and you had helped him with his beekeeping when you were younger, but he never recovered from his illness so you did not find out until his death. With only a bit of hesitance you decided to pursue your uncle’s dream. When you first got to Arcadia you were in awe by how tranquil and picturesque it was, the pictures and videos that you had seen certainly did it no justice. Unlike Earth most of the foliage was various shades of red, orange, and yellow. Giant blooms of every shape and color imaginable were everywhere, with the exception of the clearing that a small settlement had been built in. Despite being here for a few decades it was still very much a quaint little frontier town, pleasant enough people, offering just the bare essential services. Then there was your new plot of land a few miles from town. It was… run down… to say the least. But you made due, you had sold everything of significant value that you had owned back on Earth and were fully committing to this new venture. And, after a few months, your efforts finally paid off. A giant mansion sized barn for your future bees was built and your house was repaired. All that was left to do was wait for your shipment of buzzy friends to arrive. Well they wouldn’t be so busy when they arrived, as they would still be pupa, but within a week or two the pupa would be finished developing into full sized giant docile bees, they would accept the barn as their home and set up shop. The day came when your shipment finally landed and you were so thrilled, they came off the hover truck and you hurried them into their new home, carefully placing them horizontally into cells in the walls and capping them. In truth you had been more than a bit worried, you were running perilously low on funds and had to go with a discount bee supplier that seemed just a slight bit unreliable. But it seemed you had worried for nothing, here were your bee pupa, nice and healthy. Though they did seem to be a slightly different shape than they looked from the advertisements and videos, you were sure that nothing was wrong. You could barely contain your excitement, you had heard that these bees easily imprint on their humans and are very loving, soon they would establish a hive and your goals would be obtained. It would be slow at first, as you only had enough to get three pupa, but you would get there eventually. You couldn’t stop yourself from checking the barn every few hours. 9 or 10 times each and every single day. The wait was torture. But finally, after about 12 days, you heard buzzing coming from the barn when you stepped out of your house in the morning, you practically tripped over yourself running back inside to grab the collars for them and then dashed back outside and across the field of flowers you had started to grow for them. You opened the door to the barn and… it was NOT what you were expecting. The three pupa were no longer in the cells you had packed them so lovingly into, but they sure as hell were not bees either. Instead, standing before you were three wasp-men. You knew what these were, genetically engineered human-wasp hybrids, that typically had smaller genetic contributions from several ant and bee species as well, that were typically used in highly regulated projects or otherwise extremely shady sources of labor on the very unregulated frontier planets. The question was how did you get them? Did someone’s order get mixed with yours? With how much energy and enthusiasm you opened the door with, they were all now intently staring at you, and to say that they were intimidating would have been an understatement. They all looked fairly similar to one another, red and yellow plates of chitinous exoskeletons covered their feet, arms, legs, chests, and backs. The only thing lacking the exoskeletons were their faces, abs, asses, and crotches. Which were very much exposed, showing off scarily long cocks and heavy balls. They had red bug-like eyes, they had fangs but otherwise regular mouths, but they sat between a set of wicked looking mandibles. Antenna twitched on their heads, sticking out from long blood red hair. Each had a set of large wings folded behind them. Their antennas twitched in your direction as they also sniffed the air curiously. Uh-oh. They were from a shady source so who knows how unpredictably they could act towards you, so you wisely decided to make a hasty retreat, but they quickly flew over to you and pulled you back deeper into the building. “Where’s the rush?” one of them inquired in a slightly buzzing but deep voice, “Me and my friends just woke up here and need some answers.” “Uh-uh okay, sure, what do you want to know?” The one speaking put his arm roughly around your waist and pulled you closer to him. “Well, we are looking for the person meant to be our queen, do you know where they are? Your scent is the only one here. Did you put us in the wall compartments?” “There isn’t any queen, but y-yeah I was the one who bought your pupa and put them in there.” He took a moment to feel you over with his antenna, it probably would have tickled had you not been scared shitless. “Sooo… you’re the queen? Or are you under someone??” “There isn't one! And I own this land and made this building for bees…” One of the other two wasp men chimed in at this. “Ha! Bees? Those weak passive ones that have no human in em and are about as smart as a pet dog? You’re lucky you got us instead, we are far superior!” The one holding you now much too tightly replied while flexing his free arm,”He’s right, we are much better. You really lucked out little queen~ We can keep you much safer.” He licked up your neck with a long narrow tongue making you shiver. “I told you, there isn’t a queen!” You were beginning to grow annoyed with the cyclic nature of this conversation. “You bought us? You own this territory? You put us in cells so we could grow?” “W-well yeah but… I’m n-not-” “You’re our queen then~ Don’t be scared we’ll keep you all safe from the big scary world! You’re far too weak and squishy to just be left alone.” “Ha! Yeah, just a pathetic squishy little human,” the third one that had been silent up until now chuckled as he poked you hard in the stomach. The one holding you grinded gently into your ass, his cock fully erect and prodding your cheeks. “This ass is soft too~ Bet it feels great inside, doesn’t it little queen?” “S-stop, please, I’m not a w-woman!” “Awe, our queen is a bit dumb too~ Good thing we came along to take care of you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think you’re our queen yet, we’ll rape you full of our eggs. You’ll look so lovely full of our spawn~” As he said all of this he began to gently rub his hand against your crotch and the other two hybrid men stepped closer. Between the unwanted touching and the mention of the word rape you decided it may be worth the risk to try and escape anyway, but your struggles didn’t last long. The man holding you shook you a bit violently until you were unsteady and still and then held the top of his wrist to your neck. A long thick black needle protruded from his wrist and was pointed at you threateningly. You turned away, trying to put as much space between your neck and the sinister looking needle as possible. “Maybe you aren’t too dumb, you know what this does don’t you my queen? It’ll hurt terribly before paralyzing you and allowing us to play with you at our leisure and make you fulfill your royal duty~” You let out a pathetic whimper in response. “Oh, don’t worry, I don’t want to use it. How can you squirm around my dick if I did? So just relax and let this happen the easier, more fun way, okay?” He nibbled on your earlobe and you went completely limp in his grasp, signaling that you wouldn’t put up anymore of a fight. “Heh heh, excellent choice, my queen~” The other two wasps chuckled cruelly as well as one pulled your shirt off and the other wasted no time in unburdening you of your pants and boxers. They stared at you hungrily. Your nudity only fueled your fear and you had to stifle your instinct to flail, thrash, punch, and run. But doing so would surely make things much worse for you, better to just let them have their way and get it over with and hope you could sneak out after maybe when they were sleeping or otherwise distracted. You could feel the cock of the hybrid behind you gently rubbing against your hole as he licked and bit at your neck. He bent down behind you and spread your cheeks, making you shudder as an inhumanly long tongue prodded your hole before sliding in deep, stretching you out gently as it probed and making you twitch and grow hard as it found and focused on your prostate. The genetics for their tongues definitely came from long tongued bees. The wasp man behind you got up and resumed pressing his cock into your hole. “Just getting you good and ready queen~” He whispered softly into your ear. His large cock mercifully massaged copious amounts of thick precum into you to prep you for breeding. At least the entry wouldn’t be unstretched or dry, because that’s not something you would have put past them. The other two wasps were busy rubbing their hands all over your body, rubbing your belly, groping your ass cheeks, stroking your face with surprising tenderness, and contrasting that with rough greedy groping of your soft thighs and tugging at your hair. As the one behind you slipped inside your well lubed ass a second wasp enveloped your hard cock entirely within its mouth while the third kissed you passionately, its tongue fervently exploring every inch of your mouth. You couldn’t even yell in pleasure or protest the pain of having your ass invaded by a large inhuman cock as the long thin went down your throat, making you gag a bit. Finally respecting your need to breathe, the wasp removed itself from your face and began biting your sensitive neck, adding to the complete overly stimulating waves of sensation already being caused by having your dick enveloped by a hot mouth and your prostate gently kissed by the rhythmic thrusts of the other two insectoid men. The one attending your cock took his free hand to massage your balls and that led you to possibly the quickest orgasm of your life. In any other situation you would have been totally humiliated, but you were long past having any dignity today. The one behind you did not relent in his fucking of you, but instead picked up the pace a bit as he felt your body shudder, the one sucking you off hungrily swallowed your load before licking his lips and getting up. “My, you were really pent up my queen, and you produce such sweet honey for me!” He pressed his lips to yours, letting the taste of your own cum permeate your mouth. Between the kiss and the constant pounding of your ass you whimpered as you were already hard again, the wasp that had previously had its tongue down your throat now replacing the one that swallowed your cum at your cock, kissing the sensitive organ before licking it and sucking your recently emptied nuts. You whimpered as they continued to manhandle your sensitive body. The one pumping into your tight hole finally slamming in hard and cumming forcefully, depositing something round and hard into you as he did, making you flinch a bit in surprise as you remembered that they reproduced via eggs, it did not really hurt, but you felt a tingling inside where the waspoid cum touched you. The cock inside you lingered a while as it filled you but once it slid out and away from you your ass’ rest was short lived. One of the wasps laid with his back on the ground and with his cock pointing up, the other two bringing you over to him and forcing you to lower yourself onto his eager, drooling, prick. Your well stretched hole slid on him easily and he gripped you tight and forced you up and down on his length. That special spot inside you was rubbed once more, making you shudder in unwilling pleasure, your body completely betraying you. The pace was slow enough for you, and surprisingly he seemed unwilling to seriously injure his “queen”. As you were finally getting used to the motions one of the other wasps, the one that had already filled your ass, came up behind and slid his cock back inside you with his friend’s so that you were now being plowed in tandem by the both of them. As you gasped from the sudden extra intrusion abusing your insides the third wasp took advantage of your open mouth and wasted no time in putting his dick in your open mouth. You could taste his precum, oddly enough it had just a slight soothing effect and you noticed it tasted of honey. Filled to the brim with cock, you started to get a bit more relaxed as time went on, not overly so. You were still very unwilling and any pleasure was purely physical, incidental, and frustrating, but whatever was in the honey like fluid dripping from his cock was definitely making you a bit less stiff and just a tad bit less defiant. While this was happening you thought you could remember hearing something about this, that modified wasp and bee species made substances that could calm down their queens when distressed, both in fluids and via pheromones. And now that you thought about it the musk that hung heavily in the air was strangely comforting, it was like the more of the precum that dripped down your throat the more you were affected by the smell that these men were giving off. Not nearly enough to really lose yourself though, it was far more subtle than that. It was also probably why you did not feel too much pain anymore despite two dicks pistoning your ass, as one cock thrust forward the other pulled back. All the while the one occupying your mouth was happily pumping away, content with enjoying the wet warmth of your mouth as he fed you more pre. Between all the sensations overtaking your body, the cocks sliding in and out of you, the pheromones and relaxing fluid, and the hands roaming over your sides, face, and thighs, you couldn’t help but blow another load, right on the wasp that was below you. “See? It feels good to be our queen, doesn’t it,” he asked with a mocking chuckle knowing full well it was just your body’s response and it didn’t mean you were enjoying your predicament. After several minutes the one making you suck him pulled out and moaned as he came all over your face, covering you in warm slippery fluid. There were no eggs in this ejaculation, he was certainly saving all of those to be deposited deep inside you to go along with his friend’s. Your skin tingled a bit where the cum touched you and you began to feel just a bit dizzy as your inhibitions slowly lowered just a bit and you became even more relaxed. The cum was much more potent than just the precum and the load up your ass was gradually affecting you as well. Musk permeating the air was much thicker than it had been, or maybe you just noticed it more now, but it was making you drool a bit and you couldn’t help but bounce back a bit against the dicks in your suddenly hungry hole. “I feel really weird… can we stop now…” You stifled a cry, something wasn’t right, you were much more sensitive than normal to everything and you were having difficulty thinking clearly. The wasps all smirked as they ignored you, knowing that their fluid was slowly turning you into a weak little queen they could worship and fill with egg after egg. It was slowly changing your very DNA, making you receptive to hybrid pheromones, making you crave them. The one that had previously unloaded in you pulled out and came all over your back. Moments later the one below you working you on his shaft like some kind of living sex toy slammed you down to the base of his cock and filled you deeply with even more eggs and semen, causing you to spasm and moan weakly with a dry orgasm of your own. “Fuck! You’re a great incubator!” While you were panting and trying to recover the wasp previously abusing your mouth unceremoniously pulled you off the cock you were on and gripped you tight from behind, his erection easily sliding in your cum leaking entrance. “Not done yet, being queen is very busy work, you have to take my eggs too~” “P-please no more, I-I feel funny,” you pleaded desperately as your head was swimming with mixed signals. You knew you didn’t want this but you were so light headed you could barely think, and now these wasp men smelled so alluring, and wouldn’t having more eggs in you feel so nice? “I-I n-need to s-stop…” You felt an instinctual need to keep letting them fill you up, but at the same time you were burning up and truly felt feeble and sick. “Shhh, shhh, just relax, okay? You have been such a good mate for us so far~” He licked a long stripe up your neck with his thin tongue and held you tighter as he continued grinding into you. Without warning he started flying a few feet in the air while still breeding you, his insect instincts telling him to give you a proper nuptial flight. In no time the other wasps joined in as well, both of them in front of you, tending to their precious queen. Rubbing you up and down, smearing the fluid that covered you into your skin, giving little kisses and nibbles, and caresses where they saw fit. They were a bit brutish, but they knew the transition occurring in all of your cells was a rough one and they wanted to help their queen embrace his new role as easily as possible, especially since you had been such a perfect weak little mate for them. You would have continued to beg for them to stop, but it felt so nice now. And it would have been so ungrateful. These nice men were taking care of you so sweetly, giving you lots of eggs to tend to, choosing you to take care of them. It made you feel fluttery in the pit of your stomach. You were so lucky. With a shudder the final load of eggs was unloaded into you, the wasp man behind you wrapping his legs around yours as he came. They all gently lowered you to the ground, one of them keeping you in his arms with you leaning against him and burying your head in his neck before passing out from sheer exhaustion. The wasps’ fluids were still hard at work rewriting your DNA, somewhat like a virus. It was definitely taking a toll on you. Your harem of wasp-men took you to your house and had you all washed up and bundled in your bed, keeping a dedicated vigil over you as you had a deep but feverish sleep. They did not like seeing you uncomfortable, unless it was from them teasing you. But they knew it would be worth it, when you woke up in a few days you would be totally dependent on them. Your new insect DNA demanding you to always be by one of them for safety and telling you that you would constantly need to be incubating their eggs. Their pheromones would comfort, alert, or arouse you based on what they needed to communicate and you would produce some as well that allowed them to track you and be aware of your condition. You’d even grow antenna and your skin would take a reddish tone. You would technically be a wasp hybrid yourself, but that would be the extent of your transformation. Just a weak incubator hopelessly dependent on them for the rest of your life.

[fatehbaz]

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For the Maya, the honey bee is more than an insect. For millennia, the tiny, stingless species Melipona beecheii -- much smaller than Apis mellifera, the European honey bee -- has been revered in the Maya homeland in what is now Central America. Honey made by the animal the Maya call Xunan kab has long been used in a sacred drink, and as medicine to treat a whole host of ailments, from fevers to animal bites. The god of bees appears in relief on the walls of the imposing seacliff fortress of Tulum, the sprawling inland complex of Cobá, and at other ancient sites.

Today, in small, open-sided, thatched-roof structures deep in the tropical forests of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, traditional beekeepers still tend to Xunan kab colonies. The bees emerge from narrow openings in their hollow log homes each morning to forage for pollen and nectar among the lush forest flowers and, increasingly, the cultivated crops beyond the forests’ shrinking borders. And that is where the sacred bee of the Maya gets into trouble.

---

In 2012, the Mexican government granted permission to Monsanto to plant genetically modified soybeans in Campeche and other states on the peninsula without first consulting local communities. The soybeans are engineered to withstand high doses of the controversial weedkiller Roundup; multiple studies have shown exposure to its main ingredient, glyphosate, negatively impacts bees, including by impairing behavior and changing the composition of the animals’ gut microbiome. Though soy is self-pollinating and doesn’t rely on insects, bees do visit the plants while foraging, collecting nectar and pollen as they go. Soon, Maya beekeepers found their bees disoriented and dying in high numbers. And Leydy Pech found her voice.

A traditional Maya beekeeper from the small Campeche city of Hopelchén, Pech had long advocated for sustainable agriculture and the integration of Indigenous knowledge into modern practice. But the new threat to her Xunan kab stirred her to action as never before. She led an assault on the Monsanto program on multiple fronts: legal, academic, and public outrage, including staging protests at ancient Maya sites. The crux of the legal argument by Pech and her allies was that the government had violated its own law by failing to consult with Indigenous communities before granting the permit to Monsanto. In 2015, Mexico’s Supreme Court unanimously agreed. Two years later, the government revoked the permit to plant the crops.

---

As Pech saw it, the fight was not simply about protecting the sacred bee. The campaign was to protect entire ecosystems, the communities that rely on them, and a way of life increasingly threatened by the rise of industrial agriculture, climate change, and deforestation.

“Bees depend on the plants in the forest to produce honey,” she told the public radio program Living on Earth in 2021. “So, less forest means less honey [...]. Struggles like these are long and generational. [...] ”

---

Headline, images, captions, and all text by: Gemma Tarlach. “The Keeper of Sacred Bees Who Took on a Giant.” Atlas Obscura. 23 March 2022. [The first image in this post was not included with Atlas Obscura’s article, but was added by me. Photo by The Goldman Environmental Prize, from “The Ladies of Honey: Protecting Bees and Preserving Tradition,” published online in May 2021. With caption added by me.]

[anythinartnon]

False Valentine Design

The false valentine is one fascinating organism. It spent most of their time buried underground. Upside down with tail barely exposed on the ground exuding sweet vanilla-like scent to draw in stingless bees.

The bees then slowly make their new home on the tail. Exchanging their honey and resin for the false valentine sustenance in exchange for paralyzing substances that it excretes. Enhancing the bees only defense mechanism, their bites. The mandibles coated with the chemical are capable of delivering fatal seizures to lurking dangers.

In very rare occasion a false valentine pair would go to settlements where stingless beekeeper resides in. Disguised as a human with beekeeper outfit by stacking on top of another. They do so to steal the bee colony, all the while leaving convulsed people and animals on their path. Locals believed that the false valentines are enacting divine punishment to humans that are mistreating and (excessively) exploiting the bees.

It's unclear whether the medieval beekeeper outfits are inspired by them or if it's a mimicry in response to the outfit.

*Meant for a long overdue Valentine's day creature design challenge. Trying to implement that not only a patron saint of love but Valentine is also the patron saint of seizure, but because this is false it would be inflicting it rather than relieving seizures

[headspace-hotel]

Another cool fact about the Americas and food.

It is common to say that the Americas don't have any native honeybees, but Central and South America very, very much do!

They belong to a different group, stingless bees or meliponines, and various indigenous groups have practiced beekeeping and have had honey since long before the Colombian exchange

Unfortunately they are becoming endangered because introduced bees are more profitable and we all are forced to survive under capitalism :(

[mothmiso]

Sabah, Borneo (2) (3) (4) by Christine Lynch

Via Flickr:

(1) (2) Mari Mari Cultural Village. Long house and Rungus tribe Honey from stingless bees. (3) Unusually clear view of Mt. Kinabalu. (4) Mt. Kinabalu Botanical Garden.     

[keralanaturals]

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[fumblebeefae]

These photos show the size difference between Aussie native stingless bees (Tetragonula carbonaria) and the average honeybee (Apis mellifera).

Despite being so tiny this little stingless bee worker was trying to steal the pollen straight from the pollen baskets of the poor honey bee.

[a-book-of-creatures]

I wanted to ask if you knew of any mythical bees or mythical creatures based on bees? I am working on a concept and was looking for an invertebrate to attribute to golden ichor and figured bees and their honey fit. However, due to the godly status of such a fluid, was looking for something a bit more mythical than simply "bee," but my own research into such things have turned up empty. Was curious if you knew of any?

Thank you for your time, help and incredible site that I still use to find incredible mythical creatures!

I most certainly do! And in fact I've already covered a couple of them on ABC as well!

The main issue with bees is that there are relatively few "monstrous" bees. Most of the time bees are discussed as themselves, insects that make honey, and whatever misconceptions and superstitions people may have of them.

The bee-maidens or Thriai were three virginal nymphs notably from the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, which were described as having wings and barley on their heads. They may or may not have been imagined as being half-bee (there's been research to support either viewpoint from what I remember) but they prophesy after eating honey. This has been interpreted as possible prophetic visions after imbibing mead. You know, because people will say anything after sufficient amounts of alcohol.

In North America there's the Moskitto from Paul Bunyan tales (as always, debatably folklore). Half bee, half mosquito. It was born from the union of the huge Chippewa River mosquitoes with the Texas bumblebees, and the result was an insect that could get you from either end.

Finally, the Eintykára from the folklore of the Chamacoco of Paraguay is the stingless bee that makes golden honey and constructs phallic beehives. Folklore grants the bee swarms the ability to coalesce into handsome men who bring prosperity to their adopted villages. Through excreting beeswax and honey, of course.

[geohoneylovers]

Bee World: Challenges & Hope 🐝

Are bees endangered? Yes! 🚨 Bees face habitat loss, climate change, and pesticides. Honey bee decline affects our food supply. But there's hope: Stingless bees thrive. Learn bee conservation and join us to protect vital pollinators!

[crevicedwelling]

hello! i am a relatively new user here on tumblr, less than a year, and i have heard a comment or two about a 'wasp discourse' that happened here, that wasps are much more nice than bees or something among those lines

this caught my curiosity as im writting a wasp based character whos just an ahole as i did it on what i knew abt them from general internet and im stuck on wether i should maaayybe change them up a bit

if its not too much to ask do you happen to know a bit abt this discourse? or have a link to it? or if not to the discourse itself some other link that elaborates abt the same topic? perhaps even someone else i can ask this?

thank you very much!

to start off, there are a lot of bees and wasps in this world and it is not easy to generalize about them. there are ~20,000 bee species, and the vast majority of these are solitary bees that nest in the ground, plant stems, or in holes in wood, and because they produce no honey or have a colony to guard, have no need to be defensive or aggressive towards humans (because “towards humans” seems to be what most people base this idea off of). colonial bees, like honeybees, are actually much more defensive than solitary ones; they have huge food stores and many defenseless larvae, hence their nasty stings (or bites, for the stingless bees) and swarm defense of their hives.

bees, however, are just a family of wasps. their closest relatives are believed to be the crabronid wasps (example: cicada killers) and sphecid thread-waisted wasps (ex. mud daubers). these wasps, and most others, are also largely solitary, and hunting prey aside, don’t typically use their stings for anything other than personal defense. of the hundreds of thousands of wasps, most of them (75%) are not just solitary but also parasitoids that develop inside other insects. it’s hard to say “all wasps are assholes [to people]” when some 100,000 of them are tiny specks smaller than sesame seeds that nobody other than scientists notice.

two parasitoids: a braconid ~3mm long & something else ~0.3mm long

the wasps most people take issue with are vespids, since they like the same foods we do (sweets, meat) and have powerful stings to defend their nests. these include the social hornets, yellowjackets, and paper wasps, but many mason wasps and the like are solitary (and, you guessed it, want nothing to do with people). vespids are great predators of caterpillars, flies, and other pests that humans don’t like in addition to being pollinators.

a yellowjacket: Vespula squamosa

the usual anti-wasp, pro-bee sentiments go: wasps attack for no reason, don’t pollinate, don’t make honey, and are “assholes.” wasps do pollinate (most wasps, bees and ants don’t eat solid food, and therefore largely drink flower nectar; some plants are only pollinated by wasps).

some tropical wasps do actually make honey, though it’s not harvested by humans. it’s sort of silly to say that making honey is what makes bees “good” though—a very selfish mindset, and for example butterflies are well-liked by people despite not making any edible products for us.

wasps also attack only when provoked, either because you’re near a wasp nest or when you lean on one accidentally. they are defending their baby sisters and themselves, same as bees would. at least in the US, I think the reason that wasps are so hated is that we have many species of paper wasp and yellowjacket that are willing to nest on or under houses, while the (invasive) honeybees prefer trees or are kept by beekeepers in artificial hives, so it’s just more likely you’ll run into problems with wasps than bees.

tl;dr:

wasps and bees are neither “nice” nor “mean.”

bees are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial bees will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most bees are pollinators, who gather pollen to feed their larvae. a few species make honey that humans harvest.

wasps are mostly loners that don’t bother people. colonial wasps will sting to defend their nests or themselves from predators. most wasps are pollinators, and most hunt or parasitize other insects to feed their larvae.

[theanoninyourinbox]

The Stars and the Afterlives

Starclan is the Afterlife of the Clan Cat. But what Roles might a cat have in the starry lands above? And where do non-clan cats go? Where do Traitors go?

STARCLAN

This is where every Clan cat wishes to go, a lush land of greenery and peaceful days. Where kits become the adults they were meant to be, mentored by their ancestors. Where elders shed their aches and dance in the meadows. The prey is endless, the predators nonexistent, the trees forever blooming. Honey drips where industrious stingless bees gather, and deep glens give privacy and comfort to the traumatized. Borders are gone, and those banned from relationships, either cross-clan or Healers, may find love.

Starclan cats have white four-pointed pupils, and small stars scatter in their fur. Scars they chose to keep gleam like the night sky, and they nearly float with each step. Starclan cats have four major roles, though others do exist, and any cat may change to any other role if they wish.

Star-Guide: these cats are the prophecy givers, often cryptic and mysterious. They plant signs like Herbalists plant Poppies, and divine the future in a great Crystal in a pool of starlight. Yellowfang is a Star-Guide, one that refuses to be any more cryptic than she has to.

Kit-Shaper: these cats guide the Faded, those long forgotten even by Starclan cats, into their final form - the next living generation. The Faded will fall apart into motes of light in a Sacred Glen, and Kit-Shapers will take these gleaming shapes and create kits. They fashion tiny noses and triangle tails, paint stripes and spots and patches, and set starlight in their eyes, before sending them to a laboring queen or king. Lionheart is a Kit-Shaper, spending his time molding the perfect kitten for each queen or king.

Path-finder: these cats periodically wander the living world, seeking to bring lost cats home, whether living or dead. They tirelessly search for Spirits who are missed, and often will guide lost or abandoned kits to the clans. Whiteclaw is a Path-Finder, knowing what it’s like to feel lost himself.

Comet-Claw: the Brawlers of Starclan, that patrol the line between the Stars and the Dark. Moonlit claws and sunbeam teeth savage any intruder, and rescue any living soul they may find lost. Swiftspirit is a Comet-Claw, always watching for Tiger”star”.

THE KITTYPET AFTERLIFE

Often referred to as the Twoleg Starplace, kittypets go to the same afterlife as their owners. There’s always food out, the toys are endless, and just about every twoleg wants to pet you. If their twoleg was abusive, kittypets will find a new loving twoleg to pet them and help them heal.

LONER AFTERLIFE

Referred to as the Quiet Hunting Grounds, loners go to endless fields and evening skies. The prey is plentiful, or as challenging as one wants, there’s company and shelter if one wishes, and the rolling fields and hills go on forever.

Those who chose to wander the lands of the living from these places are Spirits - they cannot touch another, save other Spirits or Star-Blessed cats. They can move items, so someone moving the prey you caught might be a mischievous Spirit.

THE DARK FOREST/MIRETREES

Where those who believed in Starclan go if they break the Code’s major rules (do not harm others needlessly, never harm the helpless, and kill not thy clanmate without true need) and do not atone in some way. It’s a dark and moonless place, with a variety of landscapes - all twisted from what they once were. The river where Rushtooth died is constantly writhing like worms, grasping at any who draw near. The clearing where Tiger”star” died is full of pain wails and the feeling of being betrayed. There is a shady Healer’s den, that’s covered in deathberries and thorny vines with yellow flowers.

Cats from The Dark are twisted and monstrous, often with bloody pelts and twisted limbs. The older a Miretree can is, the more insane the mutation. The dread One Eye, the first cat of the Dark Forest, is missing much of his face, all of his claws, and most of his guts. In comparison, Tiger”star” just has a flapping belly full of noxious dripping ooze and twoleg chains.

Those who escape the Miretrees are called Geists. They are near-universally malicious, and often haunt the place of their death. They DO have some power over the living, with their aura poisoning the spirits of the living.

For Example, the Geist Mapleshade poisoned almost the entirety of Crookedstar’s family, only sparing his brother and two of his kits. It took the Comet-Claws days to drive her back to the Mire, and having lost most of her power, she now plots vengeance.

[impulseimpact]

melibee and xunapona

melibee and xunapona (from bee genus melipona, and mayan xunan kab=lady bee)

based on american stingless bees, also known as the mayan bee as it was mainly kept by them, thye make their hives inside of hollow trees and while they produce less honey than european bees its said to be a lot more rich. since they cant sting they bite for defense.

sadly melipona bees are endangered as keeping it is an old tradition that not many people are keeping nowadays as well as it being basically displaced by european bees

[source 1] [source 2] [source 3]