Where do honey bees come from? New study ‘turns the standard picture on its head

close up of a honey bee face on a plant with a black background — A brand new evaluation suggests honey bees (*Apis mellifera*) originated in northern Europe, not Asia as is extensively thought. (Picture credit score: Claudio Cavalensi/Getty Pictures)

Western honey bees could have first advanced in northern Europe earlier than spreading all through Asia and Africa, a brand new evaluation suggests.

The brand new discovering, revealed June 9 within the journal Scientific Stories, upends the normal view of the bees’ origins.

“The accepted knowledge is that European honey bees advanced from Africa or Asia,” Steve Carr, professor of biology on the Memorial College of Newfoundland in Canada, instructed Dwell Science. It “turns the usual image on its head,” he stated.

The brand new evaluation reveals western honey bees (Apis mellifera) originated in northern Europe round 780,000 years in the past earlier than spreading via southeast Europe into East Africa and Arabia roughly 660,000 years in the past. The bees then headed south into sub-Saharan Africa round 192,000 years in the past.

To trace the bees’ path throughout the planet, Carr analyzed the DNA of 78 bees overlaying 22 subspecies of the western honey bee. By evaluating the genetic sequences from totally different subspecies, Carr pinpointed which subspecies have been most genetically comparable to one another — and due to this fact how bee populations had unfold into totally different areas over time.

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Like how a household tree works, the DNA sequences slowly modified because the bees branched throughout totally different areas, so Carr may hint again how they migrated over time. His evaluation confirmed they originated in northern Europe, and adjusted increasingly as they made their means south.

topographic map showing euorpe, asia and africa on a blue background

A brand new evaluation suggests honey bees originated in northern Europe earlier than spreading into Asia and Africa. (Picture credit score: FrankRamspott/Getty Pictures)

Carr stated a key energy of his evaluation was that it included extra subspecies and bee genomes than most earlier research which have tried to tease out the western honey bee’s origins.

However some consultants disagreed with Carr’s conclusions. “Extra subspecies is certainly at all times higher because it helps uncover totally different patterns we haven’t seen earlier than,” stated Kathleen Dogantzis, who research the genetics of honey bees at York College in Canada, and who was not concerned within the evaluation.

Nonetheless, Carr’s outcomes are “finally much like earlier research that argue the bee originated in West Asia or North Africa,” Dogantzis instructed Dwell Science. Differing conclusions primarily consequence from slight “variations in deciphering the identical key patterns within the knowledge,” Dogantzis added.

“I don’t suppose this examine discredits the many years of labor that is been happening, it simply affords an alternate opinion and speculation in the way to interpret the information,” stated Dogantzis, including “I nonetheless again” the out-of-Asia speculation.

So what is going to it take to finish the controversy? With regards to determining the origin of honey bees, “on the lookout for probably the most constant reply might be the only option of motion,” Dogantzis stated. This may turn out to be clearer as we get extra knowledge from extra subspecies of western honey bee — a few of that are on the market however have but to be outlined, she stated.

Regardless of the reply, “understanding how bees advanced may gain advantage folks,” stated Carr. “Bees are essential, they make honey, they make wax, they’re additionally pollinators. Completely different subspecies make higher honey than others, or do not sting you as badly, so if we will perceive how they relate to one another that may assist us choose the correct ones for various duties.”

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