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Melipona bees are tiny and stingless, and there are many varieties. This is the hive guard of the bee called Estrella, or Star, because of the shape it makes at the front door of the hive, in a log. The guy in the door is the bouncer, to stop flies and other riffraff getting in. Some dirty flies get in and bring disease and eat the honey, so they need a good guy on the door. Their honey is considered to have magical medicinal qualities and Central American indigenous people use it to cure blindness, and it works.

