History of Beekeeping
Norfolk County Beekeepers Associa7on
2012
Available for download from www.norfolkbees.org
Beekeeping Evolu7on
• Opportunis7c Honey Hun7ng • Tending of Wild Hives • Reloca7ng Wild Hives • Purpose Built Hives
– Hollow Logs – PoHery Vessels – Skeps – Wooden Hives
• Modern Managed Hives
Species – Dorsada – Asian, Large, Single Comb, Outside Dwelling
– Floria – Asian, Small, Single Comb, Outside Dwelling
– Cerina – Asian, Small, Parallel Comb, Cavity Dwelling
– Mellifera – Africa/Europe/Mid-‐East, Parallel Comb, Cavity Dwelling • Many Races!
• For 150 – 100 Million Years – Flowering plants have existed and produced nectar and pollen
• For 50 – 25 Million Years – Solitary bees had existed, also early primates
• For 20 to 10 Million Years – Social bees have produced and stored honey
• For a few Million Years – Man has existed and has eaten honey
• For a few Thousand Years – Records exist of man’s exploita7on of honey
Egypt
• “When Ra weeps again, the water which flows from his eyes upon the ground turns into working bees. They work the flowers and trees of every kind and honey and wax comes into being.”
Greeks
• 384 BC, Aristotle wrote much about beekeeping.
• Foulbrood
• First to note that honeybee's don't visit flowers of different kinds on one flight, but remain constant to one species.
Romans • Pliny wrote about beekeeping in about 50AD • Wrote about wax, and propolis • Described a transparent (Observa7on) hive • The Mead consumed by the Celts! • “Bees are the smallest of birds, and are born from the bodies of oxen”
• Virgil wrote about beekeeping in about 40BC • Keep hives:
– Near water – Out of the wind – Away for lizards, moths, and birds
• Emphasized the hives ruler • Praised Bees for their abstension from Sexual intercourse • Spontaneous Genera7on?
0 to 1400 AD • Rome declining (300AD) • Fall of Rome (450AD)
– Travel Unsafe – Knowledge not easily disseminated
• Dark Ages – No wriHen history – No major achievements
• Black Plague 1350 (75 Million Dead!) • Beginning of the Renaissance (1400s) • Prin7ng Press 1450
1500 -‐1600 AD
• In 1586, Luis Méndez de Torres first described the queen bee as a female that laid eggs.
• 1609 Charles Butler iden7fied the monarch as a female queen and the drone as a male bee.
• In 1637, Richard Remnant recognized that the worker bees were females.
Francis Huber • Fully movable frame, Leaf, hive 1789 • Observa7ons on Bees • Queen ma7ng prac7ces and role of Drones
Johann Dzierzon
• Discovery of parthenogenesis in Queen bees 1835.
• Discovery of Royal Jelly and its role in Queen development 1854.
Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth
(1810 – 1895)
“Father of American Beekeeping”
Andover, MA 1836 -‐ 1847
Eureka! 1851
Lorenzo Langstroth clarifies bee space, the 3/8 inch needed between frames for bees to build comb.
The Langstroth Movable Frame Hive is the first and most important invenJon in crea7ng a commercial beekeeping industry.
Honeybees around America
• First Honeybees to America in 1622
• First documented apiary, Newbury 1640
• Spread with SeHlers and via Swarms
• Per Thomas Jefferson, 1784, to Na7ve Americans: ‘White Man’s Flies’
Honeybees around America
• Langstroth Movable Frame Hive -‐ 1851
• Honeybees to California 1860’s
• 2 Million lbs of honey in CA in 1884
• What was a scarce product became an abundant commodity by 1880!
Inven7ons Fast and Furious
• Inven7ons fed off each other – Pre-‐formed wax founda7on: 1857
– Extractor: 1865 Francesco De Hruschka
– Smokers: 1873 Moses Quimby
– Queen Excluder Improved
1900’s
• Breeding Honeybees: – Brother Adam
– Africanized Bees in the Americas 1950’s • Brazil breeding sta7on • OOPS!
• More Hybrids
• More Scien7fic Studies
• More interest in Beekeeping
1925 – Brother Adam Breeding Honeybees for certain traits:
The Buckfast Bee
• Good Temper
• Disease-‐Resistance • Prolific • Propensity for hard work
• Disinclina7on to swarm
2000’s
• Increased public awareness of the cri7cal role that Honeybees play in the ecosystem and their role in pollina7on of food crops!
• Increased literary interest in Bees and Beekeeping as evidenced by the success of The Secret Life of Bees, Vanishing of the Bees, and Queen of the Sun.
• Increase in Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs), personal responsibility for the food we grown and eat, awareness of the benefits of ea7ng local, healthy, nutri7ous food. High increase of allergies and food and chemical sensi7vi7es.
Norfolk County Beekeepers Associa7on
• Founded in 1953 – A few men got together to talk about beekeeping
• 2005 – Club had about 65 members and 18 students in bee school
• 2012 – Club has 200+ members, and 75 students in bee school
• A diverse group of people, from all walks of life. • One beekeeper with 60,000 hives can’t make a difference, but 60,000 beekeepers with one hive can make a different. (Vanishing of the Bees)
What the club does!
• Host monthly mee7ngs at the Norfolk Aggie with programs and guest speakers
• Runs bee school • Con7nuing educa7on classes throughout the year • Mentoring program • Discounts on bee packages and nucs • Provide scholarships at the Norfolk Aggie • Involvement in local and state beekeeping organiza7ons
• Promotes the art and science to the general public
• Social events for club members
Bee S7ngs
• They HURT and....
we REACT
You will probably get stung If you have not been stung
before, be aware of what happens.
Most stings result in pain, some swelling, redness.
If you think you are having a reaction (swelling of tongue, tingling sensation, dizziness, or shortness of breathe, seek medical attention. Don’t wait.
Bee S7ngs
• Normal Reac7on
► Pain ► Wheal develops at puncture site ► Redness develops around wheal ► Swelling
- a little at site - a lot at site (large local)
► Itching
Bee S7ngs 401
• What to do to avoid being STUNG.....
• proper clothing • smoker • best environmental condi7ons • scrape s7ng out promptly • slow movements-‐ no jerking or
‘windmills’ • extra care around hive/flowers • don’t remove veil too soon • keep gentle bee stock
Bee S7ngs 601 A bee’s front end is sweet and kind, But never trust a bee’s behind. A bee can s7ng if it can sit, So always stay in front of it!
Does anyone know who wrote this?