When you see a bee hovering over a flower, it’s easy to overlook just how ancient and significant these little pollinators are, but bees have been buzzing around for a very long time! Where did bees come from, and how did they become the bees we know today?
Where Did Bees Come From?
Did you know that bees existed for 130 million years? Long before humans walked the Earth, bees were already hard at work. Scientists believe that bees evolved from predatory wasp-like ancestors during the Cretaceous period, around the same time flowering plants began to spread across the planet. While most modern bees feed on flowers, their wasp ancestors were carnivorous, stinging and paralyzing other insects to feed their young.
As bees evolved to specialize in gathering pollen (and, thankfully, became much less carnivorous), a symbiotic relationship between pollinators and flowers emerged. Bees benefited from pollen as food, and flowers benefited from cross-pollination, resulting in the lush and biodiverse landscapes we know and love today.
Bees in Older Civilizations
Fast forward a few million years, and humans took notice of the value of bees. Various civilizations across the ancient world, from Mesopotamia to China, kept bees and viewed honey as a divine substance. During the Middle Ages, beekeeping was closely associated with monasteries as Monks kept bees to produce honey and beeswax. You can learn about various beekeeping practices in our blog: Explore Global Beekeeping Traditions.
The Age of Bee-scovery
From the 1600s to the 1800s, scientific curiosity about bees flourished:
- Entomologist Charles Butler published The Feminine Monarchy in 1609, acknowledging that the formally called “king bee” was actually a queen, the sole egg-laying member of the colony.
- In the late 1700s, the naturalist François Huber discovered that bees communicate through a form of dancing to indicate to one another where to find flowers.
- In 1851, American inventor Lorenzo Langstroth revolutionized beekeeping with the movable-frame hive, enabling beekeepers to harvest honey without harming the bees.
How Bees Co-Evolved with Nature
To attract insects, plants evolved elaborate patterns, shapes, bright colors, and fragrances. Some flowers started producing sugar-rich nectar, and bees co-evolved to specialize in gathering nectar and pollen. Over millions of years, bees have evolved to feed on flowers in various ways, resulting in more than 20,000 different species of bees today. Many species have evolved hairs that collect pollen from flowers to transport it and pollinate others.
Bee Removal in Las Vegas
At Bee Master of Las Vegas, we love learning, knowing, and sharing knowledge about bees. While we find them fascinating, we understand they can be a nuisance when too many bees hang around your home or place of work. If you need safe and effective bee removal services, call us for a free estimate today!