Honey bees originated in Asia

A new study found that honey bees have ancestors in Asia, contrary to the previous view that they came from Africa.

Honey bees.(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Scientists from Uppsala University, Sweden, use genetic analysis to decipher the evolutionary history of honey bees. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) has an ancient lineage that is a bee that lives in pit holes. These ancient bees from Asia about 300,000 years ago then spread to Europe and Africa, Natural World News said.

"The evolutionary tree we built from the sequence of genomes does not support the idea that honey bees originate from Africa. This gives us a new perspective on how the bees spread and adapt. Secret to living environment around the world, " said Matthew Webster from Uppsala University.

The results also show that the number of honey bees has been affected by climate change phenomenon. Honey bees are the leading pollinators, at least one third of the daily human food consumption is a crop product pollinated by bees. Therefore, an understanding of the evolution of honey bees as well as factors affecting their numbers can help people improve crop yields.

The results of the study are published in the journal Nature.