Medieval Pic: Hive picture from Northern Italy

Detail of a miniature of beehives with bees. Northern Italy. (Lombardy)

From the British Library

History of Honey and Its Use in Period: (Part 1 of 6): Introduction

This is the first in a series of entries on a brief history of honey and its use in pre-1600's history. 

Introduction:

Honey is an all natural food that has been produced by bees for over twenty million years. There is evidence that man has exploited honey for about ten-thousand years (Crane, 1980, pg 19). Bees and honey have been regarded as sacred objects for just as long as evidenced by cave paintings. The earliest known evidence of beekeeping, as opposed to honey-hunting, is 3,000 years old (Friedman, 2008). Honey was a staple in the Medieval and Renaissance household until sugar became cheaper.

Honey was an important staple in the Medieval and Renaissance household and economy. It had more uses than just food. It was used to barter with and make mead with. As sugar became more popular and cheaper to produce, honey became less and less important.

Annotated Bibliography: "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry"

• Tusser, Thomas. "Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry". England. 1580. Reprinted Kessinger Publishing.

This is a primary source that focuses on husbandry of all animals. Each chapter is a month of the year. There is an abstract and more detail in the second half of the chapter. Suck topics as when to plant and harvest crops, how to deal with pests, and how to take care of animals are presented. Honey bees are featured in six of the twelves months. This is probably because beekeeping maintenance is repetitive once each phase starts. This is an easy read as it written in high English. The font has been updated to modern English as well.

Honey bees working on a frame at four weeks after installation

Skep Beehives (Part 7 of 8): Swarms and Honey Flow

This is the seventh part in a series of short articles on skeps in the Medieval through Renaissance periods. 

Catching a Swarm

Skeps are managed by swarm beekeeping. Swarm beekeeping is the practice of making a hive just big enough for the bees to make a home. Swarming is when the queen and some of the worker bees leave the hive to find a new home. Swarms were encouraged by making the skep smaller than the needed space for a colony during peak honey flow. The recommended size ranged from nine to thirty-six liters and averaged about 20 liters (Butler, Ch. 5).

The colony will swarm when it becomes too big for the skep. The beekeeper then collects the swarm and installs it into a new hive. “The swarming months are two, Gemini and Cancer: one month before the longest day and another after.” (Butler, Ch. 5). This type of beekeeping was done in north-west Europe, as far south as the Pyrenees and Alps-Maritime of France where honey flows are in mid to late summer (Crane, p239).

Honey flows are the times of the year when nectar is plentiful. Bees produce and store a great deal of honey. Swarm beekeeping takes advantage of this with the creation of new hives in late spring and early summer. Honey is produced in these hives from the later blooming flowers. 

Beekeeper’s Hood (Part 1): History

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.