A Concise Beekeeping History

Beekeeping is considered among the oldest activities of man.It has had many changes in how it is operated over the years and people can easily trace just how far it has come.Although bees have been in existence for many years now, it was much easier to keep them years back as opposed to how it is today.By looking at some of the benefits of bees to humans over the years, we can get an idea of how important bees are to the environment and people.Some Cave paintings and drawings in Spain and Africa are a good indicator that people in those areas kept bees 15,000 years ago.Getting honey as food from bees was one of the main reasons people kept bees.It was used for sweetening drinks and foods and making anti-bacterial agents as well as wine.Other than honey, bees produced wax, which made medicine, glue and candles as well as a popular traditional drink called mead.

Bees were only found in certain parts of the land such as forests and other secluded areas.To make the process of collecting honey and wax easier, people decided to build their own beehives in order to have the bees there when they needed them.Egypt is one of the places that have evidence of some of the initial beehives, which were made from wooden planks that would create dark compartments.Other civilizations to be referenced as having made their own beehives are the Romans and the Ancient Greeks.This practice was necessitated by the fact that collecting honey from wild hives normally meant that they were destroyed every time honey was collected.

The first renowned man-made hive was made by an Italian Immigrant who lived in America.By reading a beekeeping book published in 1853, he understood the distance bees left on their natural honeycombs and hence drew his inspiration form there.This knowledge made it much easier for him to create hives that worked and it evolved into the modern hives commonly used today.In addition, the honeycombs could easily slide out of the hive and be inspected then slid back inside.With that, colonies and hives would no longer be destroyed after collecting honey.People have discovered over the years several ways to help the bees produce more honey as well as make a difference in other aspects such as pollination.