This is the first part in a series of short articles on the
beekeeper’s hood. The first two parts will be the history. The last parts will be my experience making one.
Beekeeper's Hood I Made |
It was said, in Ancient Greece, that the bees asked Zeus for
stingers to kill man because they stole their honey. To punish the bees for
being so malicious, Zeus decreed that the bees would themselves die from
stinging man. For centuries, man has been hunting bees and honey or keeping
bees (Crane 1999, 35). Since then, man has needed protection from stings.
Before protective clothing, humans had to rely on other
methods of protecting themselves from bee stings. These methods included moving
slowly and deliberately, pulling the hair over the eyes, mouth and nose, not
going into a hive during thunderous weather, and not going into a hive just
after the honey flow (Crane 1999, 333).
Honey flow is a time when nectar is
plentiful and bees produce and store lots of honey. This made things difficult
for the medieval beekeeper. The most honey would be gathered after the honey
flow, when the bees were the most protective of it. Beekeepers thus needed
something to protect themselves with.
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