Saharan Honey Bees Isolated for 5,000 Years

Honeybees Survive in Desert Oasis
By Matt Walker, BBC, 6/22/10

Deep in the Sahara desert are honeybees that have remained isolated from all other bees for at least 5,000 years.

The bees arrived at Kufra in Libya when the Sahara was still a green savannah, and have survived ever since around an oasis in the desert, over 1,000km from their nearest neighbouring bees.

So concludes a new study which has analysed the bees' genetics.

The Kufra honeybees are so isolated they remain free of a parasitic mite that threatens bees around the world.

Details of the discovery are published in the journal Conservation Genetics…