There has been endless speculation concerning the introduction of the honeybee to America. It is probable that it was brought by some of the early colonists and, finding the environment favorable, soon established itself in the wild state through absconding swarms. The information necessary to establish the facts seems impossible to obtain. There is much argument as to whether the honeybee did come originally from Europe or whether there may have been a native honeybee on this continent.

There is little evidence to support the contention that there was a native honeybee. All evidence points to its having come from Europe. Until 1859 the one race of bees common to eastern America was the common black bee of Europe or, at least, one so similar in appearance as to be undistinguishable. It is recorded in a paper on the geographical distribution of the honeybee, written by Prof. A. Gerstaker of Germany, that it was carried to Brazil in South America in 1845. It is known, however, to have been present in North America at a much earlier date, and numerous articles have been written which speculate on the probable time of introduction here.

This same treatise by Gerstaker, which was published in the American Bee Journal in July, 1866, offers as satisfactory conclusions as any available, since no positive information can be obtained. He makes the following quotation from Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, which is widely quoted by writers on this subject:

The honeybee is not a native of our country. Marcgrave, indeed, mentions a species of honeybee in Brazil. But this has no sting, and is therefore different from the one we have, which resembles perfectly that of Europe. The Indians concur with us in the tradition that it was brought from Europe, but when and by whom we know not. The bees have generally extended themselves into the country a little in advance of the settlers. The Indians, therefore, call them the white man's fly, and consider their approach as indicating the approach of the settlement of the whites.

John Josselyn, who resided in New England in 1638, also is quoted (Voyage in New England): "The honeybees are carried over by the English and thrive there exceedingly. " Likewise, Benjamin Smith Barton concludes in a paper on this subject, published in Transactions of American Philosophical Society in 1793, that the honeybee was introduced from Europe. Barton calls attention to the fact that when John Eliot translated the bible into the language of the Indians he found no word in their tongue expressive of either wax or honey. He also noted the fact that the Indians regarded the bee as a foreign insect which they called "white man's fly. " Likewise, they spoke of the broad-leaved plantain as "Englishman's foot" and said that wherever the Englishman went this plant sprang up in his footsteps. He further stated that the honeybee was not found in Kentucky until about 1780, when Col. Herrod brought a hive to the falls of the Ohio, since when the insects have multiplied exceedingly. From the same source we learn that bees were not known in the Genesee district of New York when first visited but were introduced about 1790.

Gerstaker states on authority of Ramon de la Sagra that the honeybee was taken from Florida to Cuba in 1764, and that from Bertram he learned that it was imported into Pensacola, Florida, by the English in 1763. He assumes that it was present on the east coast in the vicinity of St. Augustine at an early date, probably having been brought there by the Spaniards who founded that city.

Much has been made by some writers of the statement that Columbus mentions wax in connection with his first voyage of discovery. Since there are numerous varieties of Trigona and Melipona, the stingless bees in the American tropics, wax might well have been a familiar product in the absence of honeybees. Much vegetable wax is produced in some American countries also. Hence, this statement is of little significance.

The indications are that honeybees were introduced into the Massachusetts colony at a very early date. In the American Bee Journal for July, 1921, George W. Adams mentions some early records of bees in official documents of that state. In Essex County he found the record of an estate in what is now Danvers where a stand of bees was appraised at five pounds in 1660. One of the early enterprises of the town of Newbury was municipal beekeeping, and the expert put in charge became the first pauper. The controversy over his support put the apiarian, experiment into the record of the town. From Adams I quote as follows:

The town received its first settlers in 1635, and five years later the "seven men" or, as we would say, the select men, established a town apiary which was undoubtedly intended as an educational experiment station.

This town bee-yard was put in charge of a man named Eels, who was brought from what is now the town of Hingham.

A little story is told of a local Indian, who curiously observed the bees at work. He had seen the horse and ox-animals previously unknown to him and his people. He marveled that they should toil at the command of the settler. The honeybee was also a stranger, and the situation seemed to have become serious. "Huh! white man work, make horse work, make ox work, now make fly work; this Injun go away. "

May 14, 1645, the legislature ordered that John Eels should be placed in some convenient place where he could be employed in his trade of beehive making, and that the town of Newbury should make up what was lacking to defray the charge of his livelihood.

In January, 1641, in the court at Salem, a case came up for trial involving a swarm of bees which had escaped and established itself in a hollow tree. The jury found as follows; "We find for plaintiff his bees and if living and well in spring to ye charges of court, if all dead to pay thirty shillings. " Court charges were fifteen shillings. Adams calls attention to the fact that at that time a first class carpenter received eighteen pence per day, and that a "stok of bees" was worth a pound to a pound and six shillings or the equivalent of about fifteen days labor. Honey in the comb was appraised at one shilling, nine pence. This was quite probably the first civil case involving honeybees in American courts of law.