100-million-year-old bee fossil

There was a big buzz among bee experts. Researchers announced in the Science journal that they have discovered a 100 million-year-old bee fossil. It is 35 to 45 million years older than any bee fossil found. The male bee was found in a mine in Myanmar encased in amber. Amber begins as resin and hardens to stone. The insect is less than 1/5 of an inch long. It is about the size of a mosquito. “It’s unlike any modern group of bees,” Cornell University insect expert Bryan Danforth said. “It has a mix of wasp and bee traits, which no other fossil has shown.” The bee’s hind legs are very similar to those of a wasp. Researchers identified it as a bee because of branched hairs on its head.