ABSTRACT
The honeyguides, the Indicatoridae, are a family unique among vertebrates in that its members have the ability to digest beeswax. The main food of honeyguides is insects, especially bees and wasps, and it is not known exactly what contribution the beeswax makes to the birds diet although it has been established that a bacterium helps the bird to digest the wax. A further interesting phenomenon reported by Friedmann is that while the honeyguide may frequent areas of permanent human settlement, such as villages or the edges of towns, it does not try to apply its guidance routine to persons in such settlements. Man's taste for honey is known to be ancient, being documented in rock art from early times in Europe and Africa, and it is more than probable that the predecessors of Homo sapiens also favoured honey. Man's relationship with the honeyguide is a very ancient one. It is perhaps his oldest surviving partnership in predation.
