科學家在可能是世界上最古老的蜂巢里發(fā)現(xiàn)了在蜂窩里的工蜂,、雄蜂和正在發(fā)育的蜂的殘骸。Guy Bloch及其同事確定了在以色列Tel Rehov的一個庭院里發(fā)現(xiàn)的一排陶土柱是家養(yǎng)蜜蜂的蜂巢,，它們是這座城市的一個產業(yè)蜜蜂園的一部分,。對在附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的碳化谷物的碳測年分析表明這些蜂巢的年代接近于圣經中記載的3000年前大衛(wèi)王和所羅門王的統(tǒng)治時期。這組作者說,，盡管埃及人的壁畫和文字提示那時候已經養(yǎng)蜂用于取蠟和產蜜,，在這些蜂巢發(fā)現(xiàn)之前，沒有在古代近東地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)古代養(yǎng)蜂的實在證據,。
這組科學家用電子顯微鏡檢查了這些蜜蜂的腿和翅,，確定了這些蜜蜂是不同于以色列今天的地區(qū)蜜蜂亞種的一個亞種。這組作者提出,，Tel Rehov的古代定居點可能從今天屬于土耳其的地區(qū)引進了品質更好的蜜蜂,，諸如性格更溫和且蜂蜜產量更高。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1003265107
Industrial apiculture in the Jordan valley during Biblical times with Anatolian honeybees
Guy Blocha,1, Tiago M. Francoyb, Ido Wachtelc, Nava Panitz-Cohenc, Stefan Fuchsd, and Amihai Mazarc
aDepartment of Evolution, Systematics, and Ecology, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel;
bEscola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, Brazil;
cInstitute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905, Israel; and
dDepartment of Biological Sciences, Institut fur Bienenkunde (Polytechnische Gesellschaft), Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, D-61440 Oberursel, Germany
Although texts and wall paintings suggest that bees were kept in the Ancient Near East for the production of precious wax and honey, archaeological evidence for beekeeping has never been found. The Biblical term “honey” commonly was interpreted as the sweet product of fruits, such as dates and figs. The recent discovery of unfired clay cylinders similar to traditional hives still used in the Near East at the site of Tel Reov in the Jordan valley in northern Israel suggests that a large-scale apiary was located inside the town, dating to the 10th–early 9th centuries B.C.E. This paper reports the discovery of remains of honeybee workers, drones, pupae, and larvae inside these hives. The exceptional preservation of these remains provides unequivocal identification of the clay cylinders as the most ancient beehives yet found. Morphometric analyses indicate that these bees differ from the local subspecies Apis mellifera syriaca and from all subspecies other than A. m. anatoliaca, which presently resides in parts of Turkey. This finding suggests either that the Western honeybee subspecies distribution has undergone rapid change during the last 3,000 years or that the ancient inhabitants of Tel Reov imported bees superior to the local bees in terms of their milder temper and improved honey yield.
