Bees have coexisted with us for over a millennia. Their name remains a mystery

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Bees have coexisted with us for over a millennia. Their name remains a mystery May 20, 20265:00 AM ET Juliana Kim Bees in a hive in San Diego, Calif. Beekeeping has been a practice for thousands of years.

Alan Nakkash for NPR hide caption toggle caption Alan Nakkash for NPR When Kendal Sager lifts the top of her beehive, tens of thousands of bees waggle across the honeycomb — their cells filled with bright yellow, orange and pink pollen collected from flowers in Sager's neighborhood. Sager, a California master beekeeper, said bees do far more than produce that sweet substance: they pollinate crops for hundreds of types of nuts, fruits and vegetables. Short Wave What makes bees special?

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We go inside a hive "Even if you don't like bees themselves, you have bees to thank for the food on your table," she said. This Wednesday is World Bee Day, which was established by the United Nations in 2018 to raise awareness about the need to protect the insects. So this installment of NPR's Word of the Week looks at the mystery behind bees' buzzy name — and why they need more of our attention than ever.

Kendal Sager is also the founder of Sager Family Farm, which provides educational "reverse" field trips where bees visit the students. Alan Nakkash for NPR hide caption toggle caption Alan Nakkash for NPR Why the origin of 'bee' is difficult to trace Doug Harper, founder and editor of Etymonline. com, an etymology dictionary, said that unlike many words, the meaning of "bee" has pretty much remained the same over time.

Sponsor Message "A word like 'bee' has always been 'bee,' as far back as you can trace it," he said. According to Harper, "bee" came from the Old English "beo. " Some poets in the past would use the term "beowulf", meaning "a wolf to bees," to describe bears.

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But the exact origin of "bee" itself remains a linguistic mystery largely because of the insect's long history on the planet, Harper said. Bees have existed for millions of years, and beekeeping has been a practice for over a millennia. "The words that have been here forever, we'll never know probably," Harper said.

An engraving of various bees engraved by J. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Hulton Archive/Getty Images One theory is that it relates to the buzzing sound that the insect makes, he added. Throughout history, other words have been used to refer to the pollinator, like the Latin word "apis" which led to "apiary," or the places where beehives are kept.

But "bee" endured like none other. It now belongs to an array of phrases and idioms: making a "beeline," being a "busy bee," minding your own beeswax. That's a testament to how humans have closely watched and appreciated bees for centuries, according to Harper.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.