From one contributor:
 
  >The only one close to a goddess I found was MELLONA, a Roman
  >divinity who protects the bees.  Her name was derived from "mel" (honey).
 
 
and another:
 
  >The name "Melissa" is the goddess of honey ...  "Mellona" is the
  >protector of honey
 
Saw these postings after I sent off my note-- just to split hairs ;-) :
 
Actually Mellona or Mellonia was the ROMAN goddess of bees.
 
Melissa, (Greek for 'honeybee') on the other hand, was not really a goddess at all, but was, rather, a title ascribed to GREEK _priestesses_ of the Great Mother, especially in her aspect as the Ephesian Artemis.  Later ancient mythographers, trying to humanize the ancient myths, sometimes interpreted the myth of the nativity of Zeus (who, traditionally, was nourished on goat's milk and honey) by reworking the story such that the goat and bees were replaced by nymphs, Amaltheia and Melissa (but they were never really goddesses. The goat-nurse, Amaltheia was immortalized as the constellation Capricorn and Zeus created from one of her horns that icon of bounty the cornicopia, which yields any food or drink the bearer desires).
 
Our modern, sanitized imagery of the Greek pantheon often ignores the older more animistic belief systems which were associated with less-than-genteel ritual such as the annual pageant in which a couple, acting to renew the fertility of the earth, posed as the Queen Bee (played by a melissa) as an aspect of the Earth Mother) and her consort and performed a ceremonial mating-- after which the consort was ritually sacrificed by having his genitals torn away in emulation of the fate of drones.  "Give me that 'ole time religion"?  Not for me thanks ;-)
 
The following books are fairly commonly found and contain a wealth of info regarding bees in ancient belief (the former restreicted to that of classical Greece):
 
Graves, Robert.  Greek Myths.  Cassell and Company, Ltd. London, 1955.
 
Ransome, Hilda M.  1986.  The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore.  Bee Books New and Old.  Burrowbridge, Bridgwater, England,
 
 
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