A short history of knowledge about honey bees (Apis) up to 1800

AbstractHoney bees dealt with here include Apis mellifera native in many parts of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Apis cerana native in parts of Asia south of a latitude of 40°-45°N. Both are social bees whose colony builds its nest in a cavity, and so can be kept in a hive. Apis dorsata, dealt with more briefly, is a larger social honey bee living in tropical Asia. Its colony builds a single-comb nest in the open, from which much more honey and wax can be harvested than from a nest or hive of A. cerana in the same area. Maps showing regions where the species are native have been published elsewhere.10,12