> Yes but, can we bring this back to bees?
Of course. My point was that neither honey bees nor humans are constrained by evolution but rather enabled by it. We are among the most highly adaptable species, and do not have very strict requirements. Quite the contrary, we seem to be able to live almost anywhere, given basic resources.
The European honey bee, Apis mellifera L., is the most commonly
managed bee in the world. A highly adaptable species, it has a native
range that stretched from the southern parts of Scandinavia to
Central Asia and throughout Africa. Since the 1600s, however, A.
mellifera’s range has expanded to nearly all habitable corners of
the globe. Most of the European honey bee’s range expansion has
been the result of deliberate human transport.
‘‘Like the dog, the honey bee had accompanied man on most of his
major migrations, and some of the early settlers in each part of
the New World took hives of bees with them” (Crane, 1975).
vanEngelsdorp, D., & Meixner, M. D. (2010). A historical review of managed honey bee populations in Europe and the United States and the factors that may affect them. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology, 103, S80-S95.
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