A Short History of Beekeeping
Beekeeping didn’t always look the way it does now. We have always lived in community with bees, though we haven’t always kept them as livestock. Cultures throughout history have cultivated close relationships with bees, and they are important symbols in global mythologies, histories, and economies.
What is Apiculture?
Out of 20K species, only two produce enough honey for humans to harvest—the honeybee, which includes up to 11 species and 43 subspecies, and the sugarbag bee of Australia.
Archaeological sites across Africa have found evidence of apiculture—the domestication and management of bees—but was first recorded and described in great detail in Egypt, where bees were encouraged to nest in clay pottery, which would then be smashed to gather honey. The Egyptian people have revered bees since at least 3500 BC, even being a symbol of kings. There is evidence that Egyptians ferried these bees up and down the Nile to coincide with crops and seasonal bloom.
Early beekeeping hives came in a variety of shapes and materials—wicker, wood, bark, cork, fennel sticks, straw, and earthenware vessels were common. Unfortunately, these hives were not meant for longevity; to collect honey the old way meant to destroy the hive and kill the bees. The earliest evidence found of a culture removing honeycomb without destroying the hive is approximately 900 BC in Palestine, where Gaza ware ceramic vessels were embedded in stone walls to form an apiary.
Contemporary writers during Egypt's Ptolemaic period described how early beekeepers moved their hives to follow nectar sources; some would use donkeys to move the hives between islands, and beekeepers on the Nile would use boats to transport hives upriver to better foraging sites. The boats would gradually ride lower in the water as the hives filled with nectar.
Near Valencia, Spain, are rock paintings at least fifteen thousand years old that depict hunters gathering wild honey. Similar paintings have been found in Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
We value honeybees not just their honey, but also their wax, which has been historically used for waterproofing clothing, embalming, and even writing, with wax slates that could be warmed and pressed flat, creating a reusable and portable tablet.
No matter where you go in the world, you can find the importance of bees acknowledged.
Sources
Taxel, I. Ceramic Evidence for Beekeeping in Palestine in the Mamluk and Ottoman Periods, Levant (2006). DOI:10.1179/lev.2006.38.1.203.
Ottoman History Podcast, episode 317.
