Here is the quick link to this interesting bee article.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/building-bees/mann-text
Charles C. Mann who wrote this article is one of my favorite authors. He is not a bee expert, but he is an good storyteller who expertly finds and relates facts and relationships other seems to miss.
Mann was inspired by Jarrod Diamond (author of Guns, Germs, and Steel) to research and write what became 2 great books: 
1491 and 1493 (short titles). These pretty much explain everything and put our world and our place in history in context.  For beekeepers these are almost as interesting as Honeybee Democracy, A Year in the Out Apiary or Better Queens!
Joe Lewis
Bel Air, MD, USA 

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