The relationship between humans and honey bees is ancient, ongoing, and essential to our well-being. They are important pollinators in both natural and agricultural ecosystems and important for our modern food supply chains. Pollinators, most often honey bees, are estimated to be responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat. However, these essential insects have been in serious decline for more than three decades in the United States and around the world, under threat from habitat loss, parasites and disease, and misuse of pesticides, among other causes.
In addition to their prominent role in maintaining humans’ food supply, honey bees make major contributions to the scientific world. The study of their sophisticated social systems [24, 25], dance language, and navigational abilities [6, 31] has increased our understanding of the evolution of complex behaviors. They were among the first metazoans to have their complete mitochondrial and nuclear genomes sequenced, making...
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Smith, D.R. (2021). Biogeography of Honey Bees. In: Starr, C.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Insects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28102-1_60
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