The ancient art of apiculture

Apiculture is another word for simple beekeeping, the management of social societies of honey bees. People have been collecting honey from wild bees for centuries and still do today in many aboriginal societies around the world. As a species our history raiding wild bee hives is surely as old as our sweet tooth for honey. In fact, there are rock paintings depicting ancient honey gathering dated as far back as 13,000 BC!

Just as hunting and gathering for plant and animal protein led early people to develop agriculture, so to did wild honey gathering eventually lead to apiculture. The first hives people produced were usually made from hollow logs, wooden boxes, or pottery and in some places like Egypt there is evidence of domesticated beekeeping as old as 2422 BC and dating back to the dynasties of the Pharaohs. Sealed pots of honey have been found in the tombs of King Tutankhamun. Evidence of bee keeping castes and detailed paraphernalia have been found from ancient Greece and archaeological finds have even uncovered ancient hives going as far back as the Bronze and Iron age in Israel.

Ancient beekeeping has even been discussed by the likes of Aristotle and Virgil. Aside from simply being delicious on its own honey was also fermented to make alcoholic mead in much of medieval Europe where grape vines could not grow. Abbeys and monasteries were typically centers of beekeeping in the middle ages and in addition beeswax was highly prized for making candles, soaps, and balms. The art of apiculture is steeped in time.

It was not until the 18th century that bee keeping was studied scientifically though beginning in Europe. It was not until then that people like Francois Huber, Jan Dzierzon and L.L. Langstroth uncovered the secrets of honey bee biology and pioneered modern hive designs to make honey production easier than ever.

Today it is as easy as picking up a jar of honey at the grocer. There are hundreds of thousands of beekeepers worldwide everywhere from Uruguay to the Ukraine, though three of the biggest countries for beekeeping seem to be the US, Egypt, and Germany. As for consumption the US is a big one but people all over the world love the taste of honey. In fact I am suspicious of the man who who doesn't.

Political economy books and essays seem to be all the rage these days and are usually pretty intriguing whether it be the natural history of cod fishing, the political economy of salt, or the historical influence of the spice trade. I wonder if anyone has written about the history of beekeeping and honey in such a way? It could make for an interesting story. I sure found it interesting to research at least and hope you did to.

Anyway, I felt compelled to share. Step into the incredible world of the honey bee....