honey bee note #3
Johnson, B.R. ; Honey Bee Biology
Honey Bees / Natural History
Says that while the place of origin is disputed, Apis Mellifera first diverged grom other cavity nesting bees 6-9 million years ago (late miocene), and the different regional subgroups split apart about 1 million years ago (mid pleistocene). the four regional subgroups are considered to be "A" (african), "M" (western european), "E" (eastern european), and "O" (middle eastern)
[these two points in their history coincide with important periods in human evolution / relating to animal species by shared environmental pressures in evolutionary history]
(this one is neat but probably too far reaching on its own)