Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
BEES AND POLLINATION
You have just started to read a topic about how to enter an exciting, multi-billion pound/
dollar, global industry that is not only of vital and strategic interest to governments but
is also one that can offer you a fascinating hobby or career that could make you money
and take you all over the world.
The honey-bee is one of our best known insects, whose relationship with humans can
be traced back to the dawn of humankind when early people 'stole' honey from wild bee
nests. Cave paintings in Spain from as long ago as 6000 bc show our ancestors taking
honey from bees, which surely indicates that beekeeping is at least as old as the other
two oldest professions!
By the time humans did come on the scene, the honey-bee had already been around for
about 40-50 million years or more - it had evolved from its hunting-wasp ancestors
and had become a strict vegetarian. Bees and flowering plants then evolved with each
other in a truly remarkable relationship that changed and coloured the world we live in.
This evolutionary symbiotic relationship is probably the most important reason why
our world looks like it does today, and still the vital work of bees goes on. It is a sobering
thought that, if all humans were to be wiped out, the world would probably revert to the
rich, ecologically balanced state that existed some 10,000 years ago. On the other hand,
if bees and other pollinating insects were to be wiped out, humans and other animals
would not last for long.
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