Almost every person likes honey. The sweet treat has number of other uses, apart from its use for human consumption. A new study has revealed that humans have been consuming honey as early as 4,000 to 9,000 years ago.

A team of archeologists revealed that they found traces of beeswax in cooking vessels from the Stone Age. So far, there was no evidence that could tell for how long honey has been a part of man's daily living.

Earlier, the bee colonies were very less and were limited majorly to Northern Europe due to climate. Richard Evershed, a chemist from the University of Bristol, said, “Although evidence...suggests mankind's association with the honeybee dates back over thousands of years, when and where this association emerged has been unknown until now”.

The newly found beeswax traces and cooking vessels were found in Neolithic wares from Denmark to southern Britain, from Algeria to the Balkans, with the oldest pot coming from Çatalhöyük, Turkey.

According to the researchers, the bees and honey have faced a huge damage from humans. Beeswax could have been used for various technological, rituals, cosmetic and medicinal purposes, like for waterproof porous ceramic vessels, said Mélanie Roffet-Salque, a fellow chemist from the University of Bristol.

The researchers said they are not sure about how Stone Age people acquired honey, but Roffet-Salque said the early humans went out in honey hunting groups, and followed bees to their hives in forests.