Throughout the whole of Paraguay you see none of those beehives the
keeping of which is so troublesome in Europe, because the various
species of bees deposit their excellent and copious honey either in
hollow trees, in the caverns of the earth, or in the open plain;
especially in those territories which enjoy a mild climate, and are near
to flowery plains. Honey differs both in name and taste according to the
different bees that produce it, and the different times and places in
which it is produced. That which is concealed under ground the Abipones
call _nahérek_. In some places it is rather acid, in others very sweet.
A quantity sufficient to fill many jugs is often dug out of one cave.
That which is taken at the beginning of spring from the tops of shrubs
or high grass is called by the Spaniards _lechiguana_. The materials of
which the cells of this honey consist are very like blotting-paper, and
are often of such extent and circumference that you can hardly embrace
them with both arms. The honeycombs which certain wasps build in Europe
are constructed in much the same way. The excellence of the lechiguana
honey you may ascribe to its being made of the first spring flowers, and
if it remains untouched for some months, and escapes the eyes and hands
of passers by, it hardens of itself, like sugar, which it excels in
sweetness. Moreover it has no admixture of wax. Though various kinds of
honey are found under the earth, and in the plain, yet the principal
storehouses of the bees are the hollow trunks of lofty trees. The
Spaniards of St. Iago prefer to every other kind that found on the
cardones. With the Guaranies, and all just estimators, the first place
is given to the _eỹrobáña_, the sweetest and most transparent of all
honey, which, when poured into a glass, could not be distinguished from
water. The same honey, if found on the fragrant wood of the tree
ybir̂apayè is then decidedly the best, and excels all other honey as the
sun does the lesser stars. In Paraguay, in the winter months the
Abipones think honey extremely unwholesome, and carefully abstain from
eating it. The Spaniards of St. Iago go out in crowds to seek honey and
wax in distant woods; and after whitening it with immense labour in the
sun, sell it to the people of Peru and Chili, with hardly moderate
profits. To discover and rifle the beehives concealed in the woods is a
matter of little difficulty to the Abipones, who, when the sky is clear,
and the sun bright, ride out on horseback into the country. Being
possessed of wonderfully quick eyesight, they perceive the bees flying
about, and leaving their horse at the bank of a river, pursue them on
foot till they see what tree they enter: this they climb with all the
agility of apes, open a hole by way of a door, and as a mark of the
hive, take out the honey and wax into a leathern bag, and carry it home,
where their friends, wives, and children soon consume these adventitious
sweets, either by eating them like ambrosia, or drinking them like
nectar. But if a general drinking-party be appointed on any occasion,
the honey they bring is mixed with cold water, and stirred for a little
while with a stick; when, without addition of any other ferment, it
effervesces, froths, and becomes wine in the space of some hours, and
taken even in small quantities intoxicates the Indians like very pure
wine: for we have found two or three cups sufficient to upset their
naturally imbecile minds. Wax is scarce ever used amongst the Indians:
for the fire, which is always kept alive on the floor of the hut, serves
to dress the food by day, and supplies the place of a candle by night.