From where did the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) originate?

Abstract

The native range of the honeybee Apis mellifera encompasses Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, whereas the nine other species of Apis are found exclusively in Asia. It is therefore commonly assumed that A. mellifera arose in Asia and expanded into Europe and Africa. However, other hypotheses for the origin of A. mellifera have also been proposed based on phylogenetic trees constructed from genetic markers. In particular, an analysis based on >1000 single‐nucleotide polymorphism markers placed the root of the tree of A. mellifera subspecies among samples from Africa, suggestive of an out‐of‐Africa expansion. Here, we re‐evaluate the evidence for this and other hypotheses by testing the robustness of the tree topology to different tree‐building methods and by removing specimens with a potentially hybrid background. These analyses do not unequivocally place the root of the tree of A. mellifera subspecies within Africa, and are potentially consistent with a variety of hypotheses for honeybee evolution, including an expansion out of Asia. Our analyses also support high divergence between western and eastern European populations of A. mellifera, suggesting they are likely derived from two distinct colonization routes, although the sources of these expansions are still unclear.

A worldwide survey of genome sequence variation provides insight into the evolutionary history of the honeybee Apis mellifera

“…3) inferred from all SNPs demonstrated strong clustering of samples according to four major groups previously delineated on the basis of morphometric and genetic classification [3][4][5][6][7][8] : group A (comprising subspecies from Africa), group M (comprising subspecies from western and northern Europe), group C (comprising subspecies from eastern and southern Europe) and group O (comprising subspecies from the Middle East and western Asia). A previous study of nuclear SNPs argued for an African origin on the basis of the position of the root of a phylogenetic tree 7,9 , although a reanalysis of these data did not support this finding 8 . The root of our tree, defined by the A. cerana sequences, was placed unequivocally between the four clades.…”

“…The native distribution of A. mellifera encompasses Africa, Europe and western Asia [3][4][5][6][7][8] , and molecular dating suggests that the population expanded into this range around 1 million years ago 3,4 . Conflicting hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of this expansion 8 , with analyses of limited numbers of genetic and morphometric markers supporting an origin in the Middle East [3][4][5] and a study of nuclear SNPs arguing for an African origin 7,9 .…”

“…Conflicting hypotheses have been proposed for the origin of this expansion 8 , with analyses of limited numbers of genetic and morphometric markers supporting an origin in the Middle East [3][4][5] and a study of nuclear SNPs arguing for an African origin 7,9 . Honeybees show substantial phenotypic variation across their extensive geographic range.…”

Genetic diversity of the endemic honeybee: Apis mellifera unicolor (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Madagascar

“…ii) The hypothesis on molecular data showing A lineage split from other lineages 6 million years ago with A. m. unicolor divergence from other subspecies more recently (1 million years ago) (Han et al 2012). iii) The prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana which separated Madagascar from mainland Africa is dated much earlier (around 135 million years ago; Rabinowitz et al 1983) than the first honeybee species.…”

Awareness of Medical Students at Al-Imam University of the Medical Uses and Benefits of Honey

“…A temple near Cairo, Egypt showed evidences that ancient Egyptians used honey as sweeteners for their kings. Greek viewed honey not only as important food but also as medications (1,2,3).…”