Middle Ages
Much of the knowlegde of beekeeping during the Middle Ages came from Alexandria between 140-410 AD. With the growth of Christianity came a decline in objective observation as Christian philosophers and clergy greatly influenced science and reasoning. The Physiologus or “Naturalist,” was written in Greek and, in stark contrast to the work of Pliny and Aristotle, included descriptions of animals, birds, insects, and mythical creatures, together with moral and symbolic qualities of both. The creatures were used to represent Christian teaching and most descriptions were “invented to fit the moral comment, rather than to record any real details based upon observational science.” (Crane, 134)
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The church and the aristocracy was really what drove the farming of bees in the Middle Ages. During this time abbeys and monasteries were centers of beekeeping since beeswax was highly prized for candles and fermented honey was used to make mead in areas where grapes could not be grown for wine.
Beekeeping in the Middle Ages started as clergy and the aristocracy went searching for honey and wax. Once they found a nest, they would nurture and protect the tree and the hive, often cutting a small flight entrance into the tree for the bees to go in and out of the tree naturally. A small wooden door would be made to protect the nest from bad weather and predators (Birrell, 80).
By the later Middle Ages, beekeeping was well established in Europe due to the demands for wax and candles by the church. Almost every region had its traditional form of housing for bees, usually made of pottery, wood or cork. They had hinged doors or open backs that could be covered until time to remove honey. In the north, bee skeps had to be padded with layers of straw and bark to keep the bees alive over the winter. They were usually built on a layer of wicker, often in the shape of a cone; clay and other materials insulated the outside. In wilder places like East Germany and Poland, bee swarms were sometimes kept in hollow logs. Medieval Polish beekeepers developed a tradition of carving hollow logs into decorative shapes, often as women with big skirts. (Crane, 540) |
In the Middle Ages, Monks at Monasteries and Abbeys took care of the bees, often keeping records and drawing illuminated pictures in the religious works that were copying.
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These methods of beekeeping were developed in Russia, Poland, Germany, and the Baltic region, wherever the climate was warm enough (Crane 540). The spread of beekeeping lead to “bee forests”, usually own by the aristocracy or the Church. These “forests” would contain 100-500 tree cavities, with up to 20 cavities occupied with honey bees at one time (the number was limited due to the amount of forage available.)
As much of the Middle Ages dealt with taxation and payment, it should be noted that property owners were quite aware that other people’s bees were carrying off nectar from their fields and gardens. Landowners often collected a fee of honey or wax if they could follow the bees home, and towns collected fees for beekeeping rights over wild acreage.
As much of the Middle Ages dealt with taxation and payment, it should be noted that property owners were quite aware that other people’s bees were carrying off nectar from their fields and gardens. Landowners often collected a fee of honey or wax if they could follow the bees home, and towns collected fees for beekeeping rights over wild acreage.
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From Trees to Hives: Bee homes in the Middle Ages
Bee forests played an important role on the local economy in medieval Europe, but the forests had a downfall- The bee hives were widely spaces and tending to them was time consuming. Medieval beekeepers would often cut down the tree with the nest, and relocate it to an area closer to home. The log would sit on the ground, or a stone slab, creating a woodland apiary. These hives were often painted and carved (Ebert, 123). In England the earliest hives were made from pliable wood (such as willow or hazel) woven around a circle of stakes that joined at the top. They were then coated with “cloom,” a mixture of wet cow or oxen dung and ashes of gravelly soil. This mix was hard set, sealing the hive to make it waterproof. Hives were also made using wicker, straw, and reed, twisted into a ropes and coiled in circles, stitched with blackberry briars. These coiled materials made the first “skeps" (Crane, 241). In Britain, France, and Belgium, study stone houses called “bee boles” were crafted for the honeybees. The boles were often set in a garden or orchard for the bees to pollinated the the fruits of the trees. (Crane, 316). These bole were also used in the Middle Ages. In the 17th century an unknown beekeeper wrote:
Let the hive be set as near the dwelling place as conveniently can be, or to rooms most occupied, for the reddier discovery of rising swarms, or to be praised of accidents. Besides, the bees habituated to the sight of the family will become less ferocious and more tractable. |
The Concept of the Honeybee Community in Religious and Secular Life:
in the 300-400's many "Father's of the Christian Church" wrote in praise of honeybee communities, emphasizing the orderliness of its life and work. They also incorporate the concept of the virginity of he bees. St. Ambrose wrote:
"Let, then, your work be as it were a honeycomb, for virginity is fit to be compared to bees, so laborious as it is, so modest, so continent. The bee feeds on dew, it knows no marriage couch, if makes honey. The virgin's dew is the divine word, for the words of God descend like the dew. The virgin's modesty is unstained nature. The virgin's produce is the fruit of the lips without bitterness, abounding in sweetness. They work in common, and their fruit is common" (Crane, 605).
St. Jerome in Italy was another who exalted celibacy, and the Sacramentary of Galasius I, Pope from 492 to 496, praised the bee in which "virginity becomes fruitful without giving birth." St. Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Tertillian wrote similarly. The use of beeswax candles in the churches was based on this concept.
In monk Thomas de Cantimpre's work, Liber apim seu universale bonum, he compared the life and duties of Christians, notable clergy and monks, with the life of bees. Cane summarizes this by saying:
In monk Thomas de Cantimpre's work, Liber apim seu universale bonum, he compared the life and duties of Christians, notable clergy and monks, with the life of bees. Cane summarizes this by saying:
“As there was only one king bee, so there should be only one king or pope. Since the king bee does not use his sting, bishops should be mild. The lay brothers was compared to drones. Both the unity and the virgin purity of the bees should serve as an example to the monks. Stillness should fall upon the convent in the evening, as it does upon the hive” (Crane, 606).
The Protestant Reform and Elizabethan Era
The Reformation resulted in the abolition of hundred of monasteries and the dispersal of their beekeeping. The new protestant churches, less focused on Mary and the Virgin birth than the Catholics, had no need for expensive beeswax candles, diminishing the use of beeswax.
When Queen Elizabeth I cane to power in 1558, she influenced beekeepers in direct and indirect ways. Even though churches no longer needed much wax since Catholicism was no longer the official religion, candles continued to be in demand because other forms of fuel (coal and wood) were limited. Because beeswax burned cleanly with no smoke, Queen Elizabeth I imposed penalties for the production of adulterated wax. The Waxe Chander Compand of London had been incorporated by Richard III in 1484, but more candle makers were selling beeswax that was either blended with other substances or had impurities. Elizabeth declared: an Acte for the true melting, making, and working of Waxe,” calling for wax to be made from “good holesome pur and convenient stuffe.”
Queen Elizabeth I also set a social standard by drinking honey-based metheglin, or mead. “While other European countries had begun to exploit the Caribbean, Indian, Northern American, and Southern American lands for sugar cane, coffee, tea, and refined alcohol such as run, England enjoyed the finest meaderies” (Crane, 491).
The Concept of the Honeybee Community in Religious and Secular Life:
In Northern Europe the protestant church (created after Reformation) did not promote the bee society as a model, but this concept was adopted in political circles. Many authors looked back at the writings of Aristotle in order to describe an ordered secular human society based on that of the bees. Francois de Rohan wrote Fleur de vertu saying:
When Queen Elizabeth I cane to power in 1558, she influenced beekeepers in direct and indirect ways. Even though churches no longer needed much wax since Catholicism was no longer the official religion, candles continued to be in demand because other forms of fuel (coal and wood) were limited. Because beeswax burned cleanly with no smoke, Queen Elizabeth I imposed penalties for the production of adulterated wax. The Waxe Chander Compand of London had been incorporated by Richard III in 1484, but more candle makers were selling beeswax that was either blended with other substances or had impurities. Elizabeth declared: an Acte for the true melting, making, and working of Waxe,” calling for wax to be made from “good holesome pur and convenient stuffe.”
Queen Elizabeth I also set a social standard by drinking honey-based metheglin, or mead. “While other European countries had begun to exploit the Caribbean, Indian, Northern American, and Southern American lands for sugar cane, coffee, tea, and refined alcohol such as run, England enjoyed the finest meaderies” (Crane, 491).
The Concept of the Honeybee Community in Religious and Secular Life:
In Northern Europe the protestant church (created after Reformation) did not promote the bee society as a model, but this concept was adopted in political circles. Many authors looked back at the writings of Aristotle in order to describe an ordered secular human society based on that of the bees. Francois de Rohan wrote Fleur de vertu saying:
“One can attribute the virtue of justice to the king of the honey bees, who disposes and hives orders on these matters with reason. For some bees are ordered to go to the flowers to make honey. Other are ordered to work the honey, others are detailed to accompany the king. Some are ordered to fight, for naturally they have great wars among each other, for one wants to take the honey from the other. None ever leave the hive before the King, and each one has a great respect for him” (Crane, 605).
In 1599, Shakespeare wrote one of the best known passages that describes the work of bees in the hive, comparing them to European society: "They have a king, and officers of sorts: Where some, like magistrates, correct at home; |
The Age of Enlightenment
As beekeeping became less confined behind Covent and monastery walls, more scientific discoveries were made about bees and their behavior. By the 18th century European natural philosophers undertook the scientific study of bee colonies and began to understand the complex of the life of the honeybee colony. Preeminent among these scientific pioneers were Swammerdam, René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur, Charles Bonnet, and Francois Huber. Swammerdam and Réaumur were among the first to use a microscope to dissect honeybees and understand their internal biology.(Crane, 592). Réaumur was the first to construct a glass walled observation hive to better observe activities within hives observing that the queens laying eggs in open cells. Réaumur knew that the queen laid the eggs but still had no idea of how a queen was fertilized. The first to discover this was Huber who though observations and experiments saw that queens are physically inseminated by drones outside the confines of hives, usually a great distance away (Kritsky, 571)
Huber confirmed that a hive consists of one queen who is the mother of all the female workers and male drones in the colony. He was also the first to confirm that mating with drones takes place outside of hives and that queens are inseminated by a number of successive mating with male drones, high in the air at a great distance from their hive. Huber is universally regarded as "the father of modern bee-science" and his "Nouvelles Observations sur Les Abeilles (or "New Observations on Bees") revealed all the basic scientific truths for the biology and ecology of honeybees.
Huber confirmed that a hive consists of one queen who is the mother of all the female workers and male drones in the colony. He was also the first to confirm that mating with drones takes place outside of hives and that queens are inseminated by a number of successive mating with male drones, high in the air at a great distance from their hive. Huber is universally regarded as "the father of modern bee-science" and his "Nouvelles Observations sur Les Abeilles (or "New Observations on Bees") revealed all the basic scientific truths for the biology and ecology of honeybees.
Movable Frame Hives:
After many scientific studies of bees, the 18th and 19th centuries saw successive stages of a revolution in beekeeping, which allowed the bees themselves to be preserved when taking the honey harvest.
One experimenter, Thomas Wildman in his book, A Treatise on the Manadement of Bees, criticized the customary beehive design which destroyed bees. In this book, Wildman introduced an innovative new system for keeping bees that allowed the beekeeper to extract honey without destroying the bees ((Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 69)
Wildeman and his nephew Daniel were also known outside the beekeeping circle as they were showmen. Thomas became popular in the 1760's for his demonstrations of “Mastery over bees.” In these demonstrations he would encourage bees to cluster on his arms, chest, head, and chin to make a bee beard ((Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 60).
By the 17th century, the race was on to develop and exploit the Americas and many new development came about to beekeeping.
After many scientific studies of bees, the 18th and 19th centuries saw successive stages of a revolution in beekeeping, which allowed the bees themselves to be preserved when taking the honey harvest.
One experimenter, Thomas Wildman in his book, A Treatise on the Manadement of Bees, criticized the customary beehive design which destroyed bees. In this book, Wildman introduced an innovative new system for keeping bees that allowed the beekeeper to extract honey without destroying the bees ((Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 69)
Wildeman and his nephew Daniel were also known outside the beekeeping circle as they were showmen. Thomas became popular in the 1760's for his demonstrations of “Mastery over bees.” In these demonstrations he would encourage bees to cluster on his arms, chest, head, and chin to make a bee beard ((Jones, Sweeny-Lynch, 60).
By the 17th century, the race was on to develop and exploit the Americas and many new development came about to beekeeping.
The Concept of the Honeybee Community in Religious and Secular Life:
With the advancement of technologies in the Industrial Revolutions, the role of the honeybees changed as people no longer looked at honeybees to base their society in order to form a model Christian life. In the Industrial Revolution society regarded bees as a symbol for ceaseless work and thriftiness. (Crane, 605).
With the advancement of technologies in the Industrial Revolutions, the role of the honeybees changed as people no longer looked at honeybees to base their society in order to form a model Christian life. In the Industrial Revolution society regarded bees as a symbol for ceaseless work and thriftiness. (Crane, 605).