If the Spanish Introduced Honey Bees to the Americas in the 15th Century?

Question

Scientists have demonstrated that honey bees were first brought to the New World by Spanish explorers in the fifteenth century, but the Book of Mormon, in Ether 2:3, claims they were introduced around 2000 B.C. What evidence do Mormons use to back this up and prove scientists wrong about the Spanish introducing honey bees?

Answer 1

as an atheist appiarist i can explain this to you- the spanish introduced "appis melifera" to the americas in the 15 century. apis mellifera is the latin name for the european honey bee. however there are also african bees (larger and more agressive) and asian bees (smaller, more furry and with no honey production) (having said that dont try taking honey from apis africanus as they are evil). also bees have been known to fly 3.000 miles over oceans so i suspect they probably flew there themselves. do the mormons claim THEY transported the bees themselves in 2000bc (i always thought mormons were christians so they werent around then)
by the way an appiarist is the formal word for bee-keeper

Answer 2

Anti-Mormons often try to present "scientific" evidence to disprove Mormon beliefs. These anti-Mormons are not typically scientists, however, and they often selectively pick scientific facts to support their viewpoint while ignoring others. This question ("troll question") is a perfect example. It is true that European honey bees (Apis Mellifera Linnaeus) were introduced by the Spanish, but another species of honey bee, Apis Mellipona, was native to the Americas and was used by ancient American civilizations. So there were honey bees in the Americas prior to the Spanish (in fact, much, much "prior").

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Answer 3

Hey, you try making up a religion out of whole cloth in a literate society and see if you don't make a few mistakes.

Paul had an easier time in Palestine, that's for sure.

Answer 4

They've changed Joseph Smith's story 6 or 7 times already, maybe they'll have to change THAT part of their b.o.m. also!