Melantheia

All of the name suggestions stemmed from Greek mythology and were related to history and etymology of the words “bee” (“μέλισσα”) and “flower” (“άνθος”). Our final choice derived from the ancient Greek words “melas” (“μελάς”) which means black, and “flower” (“άνθος”). This was the word “Melantheia”, which means “she who is as rare as a black flower.”

In Greek mythology, the name Melissa refers to two figures:
– The old priestess of Demeter, who was initiated into the goddess’s mysteries and was torn apart by other women when she refused to reveal the secrets of her initiation. From her body, bees were born.
– The sister of Amalthea, the nurturer of the god Zeus when he was an infant on Mount Ida in Crete, where she fed him milk and honey. According to tradition, when Cronus discovered this, he transformed her into a worm, but when Zeus grew up, he turned her back into a queen bee out of gratitude.

The ancient priestess Melissa is depicted here as the mother of bees, the goddess Melissa—the queen of bees.An illustration of the Queen Bee served as the source of inspiration for Melantheia in our label design. Also, the two bees in her hands take the shape of a golden bee-shaped artifact from Crete, which is part of the archaic collection at the British Museum.