In America, beekeeping dates back to the early colonial period when British settlers first brought honey bees to the Colonies. In the 19th century bees reached the far west, carried in wagons by settlers. Most families were self-supporting, they owned their own livestock and produced their own food. The honey bees were for a multitude of uses in everyday life. The scientific name for the dark European honey bee is Apis mellifera, but in the colonial times it was commonly known as the German bee to the American settlers, being called White Man’s Fly by native americans.