The origin of the European honey bees has been the subject of debate among scientists for decades. Research led by the University of York showed that the bee species, also known as the Western honey bee, most likely originated in Asia.
According to research published in the Journal of Science Advances, western honeybees have expanded from Asia to Africa and Europe, completing a journey to Western Asia. Bees created 7 evolutionary lineages, genetically different from each other depending on geographical features.
“Asian origin bees spread over 7 continents”
To reconstruct the origin and distribution pattern of European honey bees, a group of scientists from the University of York studied 251 honeybees representing 18 subspecies. Professor Amro Zayed, responsible for the University’s Faculty of Science, said that knowing the origin of the western honey bee, one of the world’s most important foragers, is very important to understand its evolution, genetics and how it adapted as it spread.
The sequencing of the studied bees led to the discovery of 2 different lineages, one in Egypt and the other in Madagascar, and the development of 27 different honeybee subspecies. “Our research shows that a core set of genes allows the honey bee to adapt to a variety of environmental conditions throughout its native range by regulating worker and colony behavior,” said Kathleen Dogantzis, a PhD student in York University’s School of Science.
As a result, research, thanks to studies of existing honey bees, enabled it to be determined that this species, known as the Western Honey Bee or European Honey Bee, originated in Asia and then spread to its present distribution over Western Asia. This expansion event proved at least 3 independent bee colonizations (a species spreading to new areas) producing 7 genetically distinct lineages.
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