As the nation grew, settlers in covered wagons literally carried the bees across the prairies. In the America of the mid-1800s, a nation of small farms, practically every farm kept a hive or two for personal uses. When most people think of a bee, they think of a honey bee. You see them in advertising, in your garden, on your trees, in children's storybooks, and in movies. Almost every young student learns about queen bees, drones, the intricacies of bee communication, the essential role each bee plays in supporting survival of the colony.
Life lessons intermingle with entomology.
And the honey bee-human connection goes back a lot further than the European settlement of America. That parallels the age of the genus Homo, which of course later came to include Homo sapiens. Apis mellifera eventually became most dominant in Europe, became our modern honey bee and evolved along with humans themselves and the human use of agriculture. Honey bees were considered sacred in pre-Christian and Egyptian societies. The Bible suggests Jesus Christ was weaned on butter and honey and was offered a piece of honeycomb to eat just before his ascent to heaven.