Whenever people settled and started collecting rather than simply hunting for food, beekeeping often followed. Beekeeping with the honey bee, Apis mellifera, probably originated in the Middle East and spread from the Old World to the New World in the 17th century. Much of our modern beekeeping equipment remains little changed since the late 1800s.

Nichel Jacob
Luis Mendez de Torres
Charles Butler
Richard Remnant
Prince Cesi
Anton Janscha
Francois Huber
Sir George Wheler
Petr Prokopovich
Lorenzo Langstroth
Johannes Mehring
Franz von Hruschka
E.C. Porter
Moses Quimby
Abbe Collin
Charles Dadant
Elton Dyce
Brother Adam