|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Brief History of Beekeeping
 Ancient
cave paintings found in Spain
date the practice of beekeeping,
or at least honey gathering,
to the Paleolithic Era, 15,000
B.C. The paintings depict men
climbing ropes to rob honeycomb
from cliff-dwelling bees. The
Egyptians, around 3,000 B.C.,
are credited with the practice
of placing bees in hives, and
also of moving those hives to
different locations to secure
honey from seasonally blooming
flowers. They did this by placing
the hiv es
on rafts that floated up and
down the Nile to take advantage
of the sources of nectar that
occurred in different areas
and at different times. This
practice, called migratory beekeeping,
is still used today by large
commercial beekeepers that carry
their beehives by truck to pollinate
crops or produce honey at multiple
locations according to the season.
Aristotle was among the first
of the early scientists to study
bees. He based his scientific
analysis of many subjects, including
bees, on experience and observation.
For example, Aristotle observed
that adult bees grow from larvae
that are placed in honeycomb
cells, disputing the belief
of early Greek writers that
bees were generated from dead
oxen. Aristotle also observed
that there is a caste system
within a bee colony and that
honey is carried in the bees’
stomachs. He was among the first
to note that when gathering
nectar, bees visit only one
type of flower during their
flight. The works of Aristotle
were the chief source of information
about bees until the Middle
Ages, and many of his observations
and theories about bees are
accepted as fact today.
 Honeybees
are not native to North America
and likely were brought to the
New World by explorers, perhaps
the Norwegians as early as 800
A.D. Records of beehives imported
to Virginia date to 1621, and
by 1650 honey and beeswax were
said to be abundant in that
colony. One hundred years later,
honeybees were as far south
as Georgia and by 1800 they
had reached the Mississippi
River. Bees were sent by ship
from eastern states to California.
Settlers often kept bees in
“bee gums,” or hollowed-out
logs, which usually required
damaging or destroying the colony
to harvest the honey.
 Around
1851, Philadelphia clergyman
and beekeeper Lorenzo Langstroth
revolutionized the practice
of beekeeping by devising a
hive built with removable frames.
Known as the “father of modern
apiculture,” Langstroth designed
the hive around the concept
of “bee space;” that is, the
space that is left open inside
the hive that allows the bees
to move around and between the
combs. By experimentation, he
learned that the proper bee
space was 5/16 of an inch. Any
space inside the hive smaller
than 5/16 of an inch is plugged
by the bees with a sticky substance
called propolis. A larger space
is filled with honeycomb. Therefore,
the frames in his new hive were
spaced 5/16 of an inch on all
sides, allowing him to remove
and inspect the frames freely
without damaging the hive. Beehives
today are still based on his
design.
Other inventions followed the
“Langstroth hive,” including
wax comb foundation, the honey
extractor for harvesting, the
bee smoker and protective clothing.
A strain of bees developed in
Italy were imported in the 1860s
and, because of its gentle nature
and resistance to diseases,
is still the predominant race
of honeybee in the country.
These developments set the stage
for both the rise of both widespread
hobby beekeeping, as well as,
today’s large commercial apiaries,
some operating as many as 30,000
bee colonies.
Sources: Information in this
essay was compiled from
The ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture,
published by Mr. A.I. Root,
a beekeeping pioneer and entrepreneur,
and from an essay titled “History
of Beekeeping in the United
States” by Everett Oertel that
can be found at this web address:
http://maarec.cas.psu.edu/bkcd/hbbiology/history.htm
Image
credits: 1.) Egyptian Bee Hieroglyph
Photo by Kieth Schengili-Roberts,
2.) Rev. Langstroth and His
New Hive, from D.H. Coggeshell
Papers, UMASS Amherst |
| |
Illustration of a Langstroth
Hive
|
 |
------- Outer
Cover |
|
|
-------
Inner Cover |
|
-------
Super for making
Comb Honey
------- Shallow
Supers
|
|
|
-------
Queen Excluder |
|
|
-------
Deep Super |
|
|
-------
Bottom Board |
|
------- Hive
Stand
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Anatomy of a Honey Bee and the Types
of Adult Bees
 |
|
|
|
