Relationship between human beings and honey bees date back to several thousand years.

Over 6,400 pottery pieces that had traces of beeswax and were used by early farmers were analyzed by researchers. ​It was expected that these containers were put to use for extracting honey from plundered honeycomb or the wax that could have been useful as fuel for lamps. Another thought is that these containers might have been used as artificial beehives, to keep the industrious insects and their sugary concoction in close vicinity.

The ongoing phenomenon of mysterious honeybee deaths is starting to raise alarm in the food industry, which depends heavily on bees to pollinate many critical crops. "Honeybee health and sustainable pollination is a major issue facing American agriculture that is threatening our food supply and endangering our natural environment,"