Editing Bee (section)

==Relationship with humans==
===In mythology and folklore===
{{Main|Bees in mythology}}
[[File:Plaque bee-goddess BM GR1860.4-123.4.jpg|thumb|Gold plaques embossed with winged bee goddesses. [[Kameiros|Camiros]], [[Rhodes]]. 7th century BC.]]

[[Homer]]'s ''[[Homeric Hymns|Hymn to Hermes]]'' describes three bee-maidens with the power of [[divination]] and thus speaking truth, and identifies the food of the gods as honey. Sources associated the bee maidens with [[Apollo]] and, until the 1980s, scholars followed Gottfried Hermann (1806) in incorrectly identifying the bee-maidens with the [[Thriae]].<ref>Susan Scheinberg, "The Bee Maidens of the Homeric ''Hymn to Hermes''", in Albert Heinrichs, ed., ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1980), 11. {{ISBN|0674379306}}; and many others since questioning Gottfried Hermann's 1806 equation of the ''Thriae'' with bee-maidens. Heinrich Gottfried, ''Homeri nomine dignissimum''/Homeric Hymns (Leipzig: 1806), 346 and cxiii. Many took Hermann's unfounded identification at face-value, repeating it ''ad nauseam'', e.g. Hilda M. Ransome, ''The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore'' (NY: Courier, 1937; reprinted as recently as NY: Dover, 2012), 97. {{ISBN|0486122980}}</ref> Honey, according to a Greek myth, was discovered by a nymph called [[Melissa]] ("Bee"); and honey was offered to the Greek gods from [[Helladic period|Mycenean times]]. Bees were also associated with the [[Delphic oracle]] and the prophetess was sometimes called a bee.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Scheinberg, Susan | year=1979 | title=The Bee Maidens of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes | journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology | volume=83 | pages=1–28 | doi=10.2307/311093 | jstor=311093}}</ref>

The image of a community of honey bees has been used from ancient to modern times, in [[Aristotle]] and [[Plato]]; in [[Virgil]] and [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]]; in [[Erasmus]] and [[Shakespeare]]; [[Tolstoy]], and by political and social theorists such as [[Bernard Mandeville]] and [[Karl Marx]] as a model for human [[society]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Bee |year=2004 |title=The Hive: the Story of the Honeybee |location=London |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |isbn=0-7195-6598-7}}</ref> In English folklore, bees would be told of important events in the household, in a custom known as "[[Telling the bees]]".<ref name="Roud2006">{{cite book |author=Steve Roud |title=The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Mc4qPiICvcC&pg=PT128 |date=6 April 2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-194162-2 |page=128 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128210444/https://books.google.com/books?id=1Mc4qPiICvcC&pg=PT128 |archive-date=28 November 2016}}</ref> 
Honey bees, signifying immortality and resurrection, were royal [[Bee (heraldry)|heraldic emblems]] of the [[Merovingians]], revived by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]].<ref>[http://www.napoleon.org/en/essential_napoleon/symbols/index.asp Eagle and the bee on the Napoleonic coat of arms]</ref>

===In art and literature===
[[File:Mrs tittlemouse.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Beatrix Potter]]'s illustration of Babbity Bumble in ''[[The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse]]'', 1910]]
Some of the oldest examples of bees in art are [[Cave painting|rock paintings]] in [[Spain]] which have been dated to 15,000 BC.<ref name=EHSTMNWC>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kt9DIY1g9HYC&pg=PA1074 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4020-4559-2 |page=1074 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704171807/http://books.google.com/books?id=kt9DIY1g9HYC |archive-date=4 July 2014|date = 12 March 2008}}</ref>

[[W. B. Yeats]]'s poem ''[[The Lake Isle of Innisfree]]'' (1888) contains the couplet "Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, / And live alone in the bee loud glade." At the time he was living in [[Bedford Park, London|Bedford Park]] in the West of London.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Deering |first1=Chris |title=Yeats in Bedford Park |url=http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conyeats.htm |publisher=ChiswickW4.com |access-date=28 June 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630131250/http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=info&page=conyeats.htm |archive-date=30 June 2015}}</ref> [[Beatrix Potter]]'s illustrated book ''[[The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse]]'' (1910) features Babbity Bumble and her brood ''(pictured)''. [[Kit Williams]]' [[Treasure hunt (game)|treasure hunt]] book ''[[The Bee on the Comb]]'' (1984) uses bees and beekeeping as part of its story and puzzle. [[Sue Monk Kidd]]'s ''[[The Secret Life of Bees (novel)|The Secret Life of Bees]]'' (2004), and the [[The Secret Life of Bees (film)|2009 film]] starring [[Dakota Fanning]], tells the story of a girl who escapes her abusive home and finds her way to live with a family of beekeepers, the Boatwrights.

Bees have appeared in films such as [[Jerry Seinfeld]]'s animated ''[[Bee Movie]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bee_movie/ |title=Bee Movie |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=30 June 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623154308/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bee_movie/ |archive-date=23 June 2015}}</ref> or Eugene Schlusser's ''[[A Sting in the Tale]]'' (2014). The playwright [[Laline Paull]]'s [[fantasy]] ''The Bees'' (2015) tells the tale of a hive bee named Flora 717 from hatching onwards.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Gwyneth |title=The Bees by Laline Paull review – a fantasy with a sting in its tail |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/21/bees-laline-paull-fantasy-novel-review |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=28 June 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701010722/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/21/bees-laline-paull-fantasy-novel-review |archive-date=1 July 2015|date=21 May 2014 }}</ref>

===Beekeeping===

{{main|Beekeeping}}

[[File:Beekeeper.jpg|thumb|right|A commercial beekeeper at work]]

[[File:Western honey bee on a honeycomb.jpg|thumb|Western honey bee on a honeycomb]]

Humans have kept honey bee colonies, commonly in [[beehive|hives]], for millennia.<ref name=Aristotle/> Depictions of humans collecting honey from wild bees date to 15,000 years ago; efforts to domesticate them are shown in Egyptian art around 4,500 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/beekeeping.htm |title=Ancient Egypt: Bee-keeping |website=Reshafim.org.il |date=6 April 2003 |access-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309203227/http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/beekeeping.htm |archive-date=9 March 2016}}</ref> Simple hives and smoke were used.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://beelore.com/2008/02/23/beekeeping-in-ancient-egypt/ |title=Beekeeping in Ancient Egypt |publisher=Bee Lore |access-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322224443/http://beelore.com/2008/02/23/beekeeping-in-ancient-egypt/ |archive-date=22 March 2016|date=23 February 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Bodenheimer1960">{{Cite book |title=Animal and Man in Bible Lands |first=F. S. |last=Bodenheimer |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1960 |page=79}}</ref>

Among Classical Era authors, beekeeping with the use of smoke is described in Aristotle's ''[[History of Animals]]'' Book 9.<ref name=Aristotle>{{cite book |last1=Aristotle |author1-link=Aristotle |last2=Thompson |first2=D'Arcy (trans.) |author2-link=D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson |title=The Works of Aristotle |date=1910 |publisher=Clarendon Press |pages=Book 9, Section 40 |url=https://archive.org/stream/worksofaristotle04arisuoft#page/n443/mode/2up}}</ref> The account mentions that bees die after stinging; that workers remove corpses from the hive, and guard it; castes including workers and non-working [[drone (bee)|drone]]s, but "kings" rather than queens; predators including toads and bee-eaters; and the [[waggle dance]], with the "irresistible suggestion" of {{lang|grc|άροσειονται}} ("{{lang|grc-Latn|aroseiontai}}", it waggles) and {{lang|grc|παρακολουθούσιν}} ("{{lang|grc-Latn|parakolouthousin}}", they watch).<ref name=Whitfield>{{cite journal |last1=Whitfield |first1=B. G. |title=Cambridge University Press and The Classical Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Greece & Rome. Virgil and the Bees: A Study in Ancient Apicultural Lor |journal=Greece and Rome |date=October 1956 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=99–117 |jstor=641360|doi=10.1017/S0017383500015126 |s2cid=161643666 }}</ref>{{efn|In D'Arcy Thompson's translation: "At early dawn they make no noise, until some one particular bee makes a buzzing noise two or three times and thereby awakes the rest; hereupon they all fly in a body to work. By and by they return and at first are noisy; ... until at last some one bee flies round about, making a buzzing noise, and apparently calling on the others to go to sleep".<ref name=Aristotle/>}} Beekeeping is described in detail by [[Virgil]] in his ''[[Georgics]]''; it is mentioned in his ''[[Aeneid]]'', and in [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny's]] ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''.<ref name=Whitfield/>

From the 18th century, European understanding of the colonies and biology of bees allowed the construction of the moveable comb hive so that honey could be harvested without destroying the colony.<ref>Thomas Wildman, ''A Treatise on the Management of Bees'' (London, 1768, 2nd edn 1770).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harissis |first1=H. V. |last2=Mavrofridis |first2=G. |date=2012 |title=A 17th Century Testimony on the Use of Ceramic Top-bar Hives |url=https://www.academia.edu/1929792 |url-status=live |journal=Bee World |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=56–57 |doi=10.1080/0005772x.2012.11417481 |s2cid=85120138 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019113156/http://www.academia.edu/1929792/A_17th_Century_Testimony_On_The_Use_Of_Ceramic_Top-bar_Hives._2012 |archive-date=19 October 2015}}</ref>

=== As commercial pollinators ===

{{See also|List of crop plants pollinated by bees|Pollinator decline|Pesticide toxicity to bees}}

Bees play an important role in [[pollination|pollinating]] [[flowering plant]]s, and are the major type of [[pollinator]] in many [[ecosystem]]s that contain flowering plants. It is estimated that one third of the human food supply depends on [[pollination]] by insects, birds and bats, most of which is accomplished by bees, whether wild or domesticated.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yang |first1=Sarah |title=Pollinators help one-third of world's crop production, says new study |url=http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/10/25_pollinator.shtml |publisher=UC Berkeley |access-date=29 June 2015 |date=25 October 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709060248/http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/10/25_pollinator.shtml |archive-date=9 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/wild-bees-found-to-be-just-as-important-as-honeybees-for-pollinating-food-crops-10324450.html |title=Wild bees just as important as domesticated bees for pollinating food crops |author=Connor, Steve |date=16 June 2015 |newspaper=The Independent |quote=Wild bees have become as important as domesticated honeybees in pollinating food crops around the world due to the dramatic decline in number of healthy honeybee colonies over the past half century, a study has found. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906052404/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/wild-bees-found-to-be-just-as-important-as-honeybees-for-pollinating-food-crops-10324450.html |archive-date=6 September 2017}}</ref>

Since the 1970s, there has been a general decline in the species richness of wild bees and other pollinators, probably attributable to stress from increased parasites and disease, the use of pesticides, and a decrease in the number of wild flowers. Climate change probably exacerbates the problem.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goulson |first1=Dave |author1-link=Dave Goulson |author2=Nicholls, Elizabeth |author3=Botías, Cristina |author4=Rotheray, Ellen L. |year=2015 |title=Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers |journal=Science |volume=347 |issue=6229 |pages=1255957 |doi=10.1126/science.1255957|pmid=25721506 |s2cid=206558985 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This is a major cause of concern, as it can cause biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation as well as increase climate change.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why bees are climate heroes |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/why-bees-are-climate-heroes |website=World Wildlife Fund |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>

[[pollination management|Contract pollination]] has overtaken the role of honey production for [[beekeeper]]s in many countries. After the introduction of [[Varroa mites]], [[feral]] honey bees declined dramatically in the US, though their numbers have since recovered.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Loper |first1=Gerald M. |last2=Sammataro |first2=Diana |last3=Finley |first3=Jennifer |last4=Cole |first4=Jerry |title=Feral honey bees in southern Arizona, 10 years after varroa infestation |journal=American Bee Journal |date=2006 |volume=146 |pages=521–524}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rangel |first1=Juliana |last2=Giresi |first2=Melissa |last3=Pinto |first3=Maria Alice |last4=Baum |first4=Kristen A. |last5=Rubink |first5=William L. |last6=Coulson |first6=Robert N. |last7=Johnston |first7=John Spencer |title=Africanization of a feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) population in South Texas: does a decade make a difference? |journal=Ecology and Evolution |date=2016 |volume=6 |issue=7 |pages=2158–2169 |doi=10.1002/ece3.1974|pmid=27069571 |pmc=4782243 |bibcode=2016EcoEv...6.2158R }}</ref> The number of colonies kept by beekeepers declined slightly, through [[urbanization]], systematic pesticide use, [[Acarapis woodi|tracheal]] and ''[[Varroa]]'' mites, and the closure of beekeeping businesses. In 2006 and 2007 the rate of attrition increased, and was described as [[colony collapse disorder]].<ref name="Penn">{{cite news|title=Honey Bee Die-Off Alarms Beekeepers, Crop Growers and Researchers|url=http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/07Jan/HoneyBees.htm|publisher=Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences|date=29 January 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517154313/http://www.aginfo.psu.edu/News/07Jan/HoneyBees.htm|archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref> In 2010 invertebrate iridescent virus and the fungus ''[[Nosema ceranae]]'' were shown to be in every killed colony, and deadly in combination.<ref>Johnson, Kirk (6 October 2010) [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html Scientists and Soldiers Solve a Bee Mystery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007221509/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/science/07bees.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited |date=7 October 2010 }}{{cbignore}}. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Eban |first=Katherine |url=https://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/news/honey_bees_ny_times.fortune/index.htm |title=What a scientist didn't tell the New York Times about his study on bee deaths |publisher=CNN |date=8 October 2010 |access-date=20 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019235428/https://money.cnn.com/2010/10/08/news/honey_bees_ny_times.fortune/index.htm |archive-date=19 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Iridovirus and Microsporidian Linked to Honey Bee Colony Decline |author1=Jerry J. Bromenshenk |author2=Colin B. Henderson |author3=Charles H. Wick |author4=Michael F. Stanford |author5=Alan W. Zulich |author6=Rabih E. Jabbour |author7=Samir V. Deshpande |author8=Patrick E. McCubbin |author9=Robert A. Seccomb |author10=Phillip M. Welch |author11=Trevor Williams |author12=David R. Firth |author13=Evan Skowronski |author14=Margaret M. Lehmann |author15=Shan L. Bilimoria |author16=Joanna Gress |author17=Kevin W. Wanner |author18=Robert A. Cramer Jr |date=6 October 2010 |journal=PLOS ONE |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0013181 |volume=5 |issue = 10|pages=e13181 |pmid=20949138 |pmc=2950847|bibcode=2010PLoSO...513181B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1545516/Honey-bees-in-US-facing-extinction.html "Honey bees in US facing extinction"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906233434/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1545516/Honey-bees-in-US-facing-extinction.html |date=6 September 2008 }}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' (London), 14 March 2007.</ref> Winter losses increased to about 1/3.<ref>Benjamin, Alison (2 May 2010) [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/02/food-fear-mystery-beehives-collapse Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204232310/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/may/02/food-fear-mystery-beehives-collapse |date=4 December 2013 }}. ''[[The Observer]]'' (London).</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509111955.htm |title=Beekeepers Report Continued Heavy Losses From Colony Collapse Disorder |publisher=Sciencedaily.com |date=12 May 2008 |access-date=22 June 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100731084827/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509111955.htm| archive-date= 31 July 2010 | url-status=live}}</ref> ''Varroa'' mites were thought to be responsible for about half the losses.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/4011954-hiver-fatal-pour-la-moitie-des-colonies-d-abeilles-en-suisse.html | title=Hiver fatal pour la moitié des colonies d'abeilles en Suisse | publisher=Radio Télévision Suisse | date=22 May 2012 | access-date=22 May 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112095201/http://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/4011954-hiver-fatal-pour-la-moitie-des-colonies-d-abeilles-en-suisse.html | archive-date=12 November 2012}}</ref>

Apart from colony collapse disorder, losses outside the US have been attributed to causes including pesticide seed dressings, using [[neonicotinoid]]s such as [[clothianidin]], [[imidacloprid]] and [[thiamethoxam]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Storkstad, Erik |s2cid=206597443 |title=Field Research on Bees Raises Concern About Low-Dose Pesticides |journal=Science |page=1555 |volume= 335 |date=30 March 2012|doi= 10.1126/science.335.6076.1555|issue= 6076 |pmid=22461580|bibcode=2012Sci...335.1555S }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116 |title=EFSA identifies risks to bees from neonicotinoids &#124; European Food Safety Authority |website=Efsa.europa.eu |date=20 September 2012 |access-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728203252/http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116 |archive-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> From 2013 the [[European Union]] restricted some pesticides to stop bee populations from declining further.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://www.3news.co.nz/EU-moves-to-protect-bees-from-pesticides/tabid/1160/articleID/296028/Default.aspx | work= 3 News NZ | title= EU moves to protect bees | date= 30 April 2013 | url-status=live | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130729145145/http://www.3news.co.nz/EU-moves-to-protect-bees-from-pesticides/tabid/1160/articleID/296028/Default.aspx | archive-date= 29 July 2013}}</ref> In 2014 the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] report warned that bees faced increased risk of extinction because of [[global warming]].<ref>Gosden, Emily (29 March 2014) [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10730667/Bees-and-the-crops-they-pollinate-are-at-risk-from-climate-change-IPCC-report-to-warn.html Bees and the crops they pollinate are at risk from climate change, IPCC report to warn] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829051520/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/10730667/Bees-and-the-crops-they-pollinate-are-at-risk-from-climate-change-IPCC-report-to-warn.html |date=29 August 2014 }} ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). Retrieved 30 March 2014</ref> In 2018 the European Union decided to ban field use of all three major neonicotinoids; they remain permitted in veterinary, greenhouse, and vehicle transport usage.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |title=EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/eu-agrees-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 April 2018}}</ref>

Farmers have focused on alternative solutions to mitigate these problems. By raising native plants, they provide food for native bee pollinators like ''[[Lasioglossum vierecki]]''<ref name="Farming for native bees">{{cite web |url=http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=LNE07-261&y=2011&t=1 |title=Farming for native bees |date=2011|website=Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education |access-date=4 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930233624/http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=LNE07-261&y=2011&t=1 |archive-date=30 September 2015|last=Kuehn|first=Faith }}</ref> and ''[[Lasioglossum leucozonium|L. leucozonium]]'',<ref name="An Assessment of Non-Apis Bees as Fruit and Vegetable Crop Pollinators in Southwest Virginia">Adamson, Nancy Lee. [http://www.step-project.net/NPDOCS/Adamson_NL_D_2011.pdf An Assessment of Non-Apis Bees as Fruit and Vegetable Crop Pollinators in Southwest Virginia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120230411/http://www.step-project.net/NPDOCS/Adamson_NL_D_2011.pdf |date=20 November 2015}}. Diss. 2011. Web. 15 October 2015.</ref> leading to less reliance on honey bee populations.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Peponapis pruinosaCane-12.JPG|[[Squash bee]]s (Apidae) are important pollinators of [[Cucurbita|squashes]] and [[cucumber]]s.
File:A bee covered with pollen.jpg|Bee covered in pollen
</gallery>

=== As food producers ===

Honey is a natural product produced by bees and stored for their own use, but its sweetness has always appealed to humans. Before domestication of bees was even attempted, humans were raiding their nests for their honey. Smoke was often used to subdue the bees and such activities are depicted in [[Cave painting|rock paintings]] in Spain dated to 15,000 BC.<ref name=EHSTMNWC/> 
Honey bees are used commercially to produce [[honey]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89094204153;view=1up;seq=3 |publisher=US Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin, No. 653 |last1=Hunt |first1=C.L. |last2=Atwater |first2=H.W. |date=7 April 1915 |title=Honey and Its Uses in the Home |access-date=14 July 2015}}</ref>

===As food===

Bees are considered [[edible insects]]. People in some countries [[entomophagy|eat insects]], including the larvae and pupae of bees, mostly stingless species. They also gather larvae, pupae and surrounding cells, known as [[bee brood]], for consumption.<ref name=Holland2013>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130514-edible-insects-entomophagy-science-food-bugs-beetles/ |title=U.N. Urges Eating Insects: 8 Popular Bugs to Try |author=Holland, Jennifer |date=14 May 2013 |work=National Geographic |access-date=16 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716110446/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130514-edible-insects-entomophagy-science-food-bugs-beetles/ |archive-date=16 July 2015}}</ref> In the [[Indonesia]]n dish ''[[botok|botok tawon]]'' from Central and East [[Java]], bee larvae are eaten as a companion to [[rice]], after being mixed with shredded [[coconut]], wrapped in [[banana]] leaves, and steamed.<ref name=Tasty2015>{{cite web | title=Botok Tempe Tahu Teri (Botok Tempe Tofu Anchovy) | publisher=Tasty Indonesian Food | url=http://tasty-indonesian-food.com/indonesian-food-recipes/tahu-tempe-vegetables/botok-tempe-tahu-teri/ | access-date=22 June 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626145342/http://tasty-indonesian-food.com/indonesian-food-recipes/tahu-tempe-vegetables/botok-tempe-tahu-teri/ | archive-date=26 June 2015}} (This particular Botok recipe uses anchovies, not bees)</ref><ref name=Sayangi2015>{{cite web |last1=Haris |first1=Emmaria |title=Sensasi Rasa Unik Botok Lebah yang Menyengat (Unique taste sensation botok with stinging bees) |url=http://www.sayangi.com/gayahidup1/kuliner/read/12669/sensasi-rasa-unik-botok-lebah-yang-menyengat |publisher=Sayangi.com |access-date=22 June 2015 |language=id |date=6 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622203413/http://www.sayangi.com/gayahidup1/kuliner/read/12669/sensasi-rasa-unik-botok-lebah-yang-menyengat |archive-date=22 June 2015}}</ref>

Bee brood (pupae and larvae) although low in [[calcium]], has been found to be high in [[protein]] and [[carbohydrate]], and a useful source of [[phosphorus]], [[magnesium]], [[potassium]], and trace minerals [[iron]], [[zinc]], [[copper]], and [[selenium]]. In addition, while bee brood was high in fat, it contained no fat soluble vitamins (such as A, D, and E) but it was a good source of most of the water-soluble [[B vitamins]] including [[choline]] as well as vitamin C. The fat was composed mostly of [[Saturated fat|saturated]] and [[monounsaturated fatty acids]] with 2.0% being [[polyunsaturated fatty acids]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Nutrient Composition of Bee Brood and its Potential as Human Food |author=Fink, Mark D. |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ecology Food and Nutrition|date=2007| doi=10.1080/03670240500187278 |volume=44 |issue = 4|journal=Ecology of Food and Nutrition|pages=257–270|s2cid=84191573 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Standard methods for Apis mellifera brood as human food |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Journal of Apicultural Research |author=Annette Bruun Jensen |date=2016 |doi=10.1080/00218839.2016.1226606 |journal=Journal of Apicultural Research |volume = 58|issue = 2|pages=1–28|doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="145px">
File:Botoktawon.jpg|Bee larvae as food in the [[Java]]nese dish ''[[botok|botok tawon]]''
File:Fried bees dish.jpg|Fried whole bees served in a Ukrainian restaurant
</gallery>

=== As alternative medicine ===

[[Apitherapy]] is a branch of [[alternative medicine]] that uses honey bee products, including [[raw honey]], [[royal jelly]], pollen, [[propolis]], [[beeswax]] and [[apitoxin]] (Bee [[venom]]).<ref name=MedicineWorld>{{cite web |url=http://medicineworld.org/alternative/apitherapy/what-is-apitherapy.html |title=What is apitherapy? |publisher=MedicineWorld.Org |access-date=20 January 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150618182834/http://medicineworld.org/alternative/apitherapy/what-is-apitherapy.html |archive-date=18 June 2015}}</ref> The claim that apitherapy treats cancer, which some proponents of apitherapy make, remains unsupported by [[evidence-based medicine]].<ref name=Cass>{{cite book |last1=Barry R. |first1=Cassileth |author-link=Barrie R. Cassileth |title=The Complete Guide to Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care: Essential Information for Patients, Survivors and Health Professionals |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6kLNKw5baYC&pg=PA221 |year=2011 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4335-66-9 |pages=221–224 |chapter=Chapter 36: Apitherapy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307071311/https://books.google.com/books?id=J6kLNKw5baYC&pg=PA221 |archive-date=7 March 2017}}</ref><ref name=Ades2009>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8aHAAAACAAJ&pg=704 |title=American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies |publisher=American Cancer Society |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-944235-71-3 |editor1-last=Ades |editor1-first=Terri B. |edition=2nd |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americancancerso0000unse/page/704 704–708] |chapter=Chapter 9: Pharmacologic and Biologic Therapies |editor2-last=Russel |editor2-first=Jill |url=https://archive.org/details/americancancerso0000unse/page/704 }}</ref>

=== Stings ===

The painful [[Bee sting|stings of bees]] are mostly associated with the poison gland and the [[Dufour's gland]] which are abdominal exocrine glands containing various chemicals. In ''[[Lasioglossum leucozonium]]'', the Dufour's Gland mostly contains [[octadecanolide]] as well as some [[eicosanolide]]. There is also evidence of n-triscosane, n-[[heptacosane]],<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |title=Chemistry of the dufour's gland secretion of halictine bees |last1=Hefetz |first1=Abraham |date=1978 |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B |doi=10.1016/0305-0491(78)90229-8 |last2=Blum |first2=Murray |last3=Eickwort |first3=George |last4=Wheeler |first4=James |issue=1 |volume=61 |pages=129–132}}</ref> and 22-docosanolide.<ref name=":7">{{cite journal |title=Systematic relationship of halictinae bees based on the pattern of macrocyclic lactones in the Dufour gland secretion |doi=10.1016/0020-1790(82)90004-X |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=161–170 |journal=Insect Biochemistry |year=1982 |last1=Johansson |first1=Ingela}}</ref>