Period Beehives: Wood Hives, Part 2

Another period style of a wood hive is also Italian. Hive management and harvest are much clearer in these examples than other styles of wood hives. Harvesting and swarm catching can be seen in the picture above. It appears that harvesting is done from along the length of the hive. The swarm is being caught on the short side indicating an entrance on that end. Two hives can be seen behind the hive being harvested. This shows how hives are placed.

It is unclear in these images if there are hinges on either hive or if the panels are pinned in place. The hive must be closed up after inspection or harvest. The bees will only build in tight and dark spaces. The image directly above looks to be a beekeeper pulling a panel off. It also appears as though there is another hive stacked on top. This interpretation would necessitate the side panel opening. This would be possible if there were a space to slide a knife inside to separate the combs from the side panel. This could possibly do considerable damage to the combs though.

Period Hives: Wood Hives, Part 1

There is very little written about the medieval and Renaissance Italian box hives. We can tell from this picture that vertical and horizontal hives were used. It is my belief, based on the picture and beekeeping experience, the lids were removed and comb was retrieved as needed. I do not believe these were harvested in the manner of skeps. Skep harvesting involves killing the bees at the end of the season by means of drowning or sulfur smoke. I think that combs were cut out one piece at a time as needed.

Italy’s growing and beekeeping season is longer than that of Northern and Eastern Europe. Not unlike Florida, the bees would have a longer season of activity. The increased activity time would allow the bees to easily maintain their hives. This would also allow more time for the bees to recover from a harvest. There was no need to destroy the whole colony.