The Honey bee has been known to the human race for many thousands of years. There is a very old educational painting in a rock shelter in Spain depicting bees. Stone Age man ate honey which he stole from the nests of wild bees. Bees were first kept by man in hollow logs with sticks to support the honey combs. Later man kept bees in straw baskets called ‘skeps’ and today, bees are kept in standard hives.