|
Beekeeping
Ancient Beekeeping Beekeeping
dates back to 2400 BCE, in Lower Egypt after the God Re created bees
through his tears that he cried. Pictures of woven wicker basket hives
were depicted in reliefs and those same kinds are still seen in Sudan
today. Cylindrical hives were made of clay, like those depicted in the
tomb of Pabasa at left. In
Lower Egypt, the bee was chosen as a symbol for the country and one of
Pharaoh's titles was Bee King. There were also traveling apiarists in
the Faiyum in Ptolemaic times and possibly also beekeepers living by the
Nile who loaded their hives onto boats, shipped them upriver in early
spring, and then followed the flowering of the plants northwards as they
were reported to do in the 19th century CE.
Egyptians valued wild honey very much, there were honey hunters that
were protected by royal archers would search through wild hives for bee
colonies. Temples kept bees in order to satisfy the gods’ desires for
honey and for the production of medicines and ointments. Honey was used
for sweetening, before sugar was discovered. Honey was added to wine,
various kinds of bread and cakes. Medicines and salves often contained
honey. Honey was applied to open wounds - a reasonable treatment
considering its antibacterial and fungicidal qualities.
1st
century BCE
“Claims have been made that honey was used in the mummification
process. The evidence for such usage is scant and anecdotal, e.g. Abd
el-Latif's story published in Budge's book The Mummy about treasure
hunters who found a sealed jar containing honey, and after eating part
of it they discovered it also contained the body of a small child.” (Diodorus
Siculus, Historical Library, Chapter 84.)
Beekeeping Today
Today using beehive products to treat diseases led to the emergence of a
new branch of medicine - apitherapy. Various scientific conferences,
international workshops on apitherapy are now taking place where
scientists report about their studies, and discuss the most efficient
ways of using beekeeping products to protect human health.
|
 |
| a queen bee cell designed to rear a new queen |
Present
Day Threats
information
on mites that impose a threat to beekeepers
A parasite known as Varroa mites, present mostly in North America, get into beehives and destroy the colonies by sucking blood from the bees and cause weight loss, deformities, and reduced lifespans for the bees. Within a few months these mites can completely destroy an entire bee colony. Scientists in the ARS Beneficial Insects Research Unit (BIRU) have been searching for a pathogen (disease-causing agent) which will prevent the Varroa mites from infecting a beehive. As of now, the Varroa mites have developed a resistance to the only chemicals approved to repel them - fluvalinate and coumaphos. Scientists have recently decided on a strain of fungus which has proved to be pathogenic to the Varroa mites - Metarhizium anisopliae. The fungus kills termites but does not harm the bees or the queen's production. To test the agent, scientists put strips of the fungus in a hive, which the bees attacked as a natural reaction to protect the hive. Within a few minutes the spores were spread throughout the hive and all the bees had come in contact with it. The mites on the bees began to die, but the bees remained unharmed.
 |
| a varroa mite |
In The
Hive
status
within the hive
Among the thousands of bees residing in a single hive, there are only 3
types of bee: the queen, the drone, and the worker. The queen bee is the
only female in the hive capable of laying eggs and is the largest bee in
the colony. When the larvae are two days old, the workers will select
one to become queen. The queen will emerge 11 days later to mate in
flight with 18 male (drone) bees. During this mating period the queen
will receive enough sperm cells (several billion) to last her her entire
life span of two years. After 10 days, the queen will begin to lay her
egss, which can be as many as 3,000 a day.
The drone are stout male bees without stingers
and have the sole purpose of mating with the queen. the drones do not
collect food or pollen and are often kicked out of the hive when food
shortages occur. After mating with the queen, the drones will die.
The worker bees are the smallest in the colony
and are all sterile females. There can be as many as 50,000 or 60,000
workers in a single hive. Their life span varies depending on the time
of year, generally being between 28 and 35 days. A worker bee born in
September, however, can live through the winter. Workers feed the queen
and larvae, guard the hive entrance, keep the hive cool by beating their
wings, and collect nectar and pollen. They also produce honey comb,
which is only 2/1000 inch thick but can support 25 times its
weight.
 |
| worker bees keeping the hive cool by beathing their wings |
Sources
http://tentoriumapi.com/main_en/beekeeping_today.asp
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/beekeeping.htm
http://www.kohala.net/bees/JPEGS/beew-2.html
Home | Williamson Interview | Holbrook Interview | Photo Gallery