Decipher the mysterious life of honey bees

Scientists have deciphered the honey bee genome, finding clues about their complex social behaviors. The result is that bees become the second insect after fruit flies and mosquitoes that have the decoded genome.

Honey bee Apis mellifera (Photo: semo.edu)

Apis mellifera honeybees evolve more slowly than other insects but have more genes related to smell.

" In biology and medicine, honey bees are used for research in many areas such as allergies, neuroscience, geriatrics, social behavior and toxicology, " said Professor Gene Robinson, Director. University of Illinois, said.

" The genetic decoding project of honeybee has opened a new study on bees that help the agriculture industry, study biology and human health . "

With a highly developed social structure consisting of tens of thousands of worker bees run by a queen, the honey bee genome also helps accelerate the study of genes related to social behavior.

Queen bees live 10 times longer than worker bees and lay up to 2,000 eggs a day. Even with a tiny brain, honey bees exhibit a deep sense of awareness and know how to associate the color, shape and flavor of the flower with food, increasing their foraging ability. Scientists have discovered honeybees originating in Africa and dispersed to Europe through two ancient migrations.

The number of olfactory-related genes outweighs the number of genes associated with taste. These insects also have fewer immunity genes than fruit flies or mosquitoes. Honey bees use pheromone to distinguish sex, class and age of other bees.

" This gene sequence is an important step in finding the answer to a fundamental problem of social evolution: At the genetic level, what is required to construct a collective insect. advanced , "said Professor Edward Wilson of Harvard University, USA.

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