1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,239 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Since we got a little bit about beekeeping 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: in this week's installment of Unearthed, we're revisiting our episode 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: on the history of beekeeping today. This episode traces the 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: history of beekeeping up through the development of the Langstroth 5 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: hive in the nineteenth century. But to be clear, the 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,319 Speaker 1: beekeeping and bee hunting methods that we talk about in 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: the earlier parts of the episode are still practiced today 8 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: all around the world. This episode originally came out on 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 1: May eleventh, twenty twenty. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 12 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: I'm fond of bees, me too. Yeah, I don't know 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: if I've mentioned that on the show before. I don't know. 14 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: I spent way too much time, Yes, Dad ushering a 15 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: bee out of my garage so I could close the door. 16 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: So this is especially timely. Yeah, you know, continuing the 17 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 1: theme of wanting to do some episodes that feel like 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: they are not catastrophically upsetting because of the state of 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: the world. I really like bees and beekeeping as you 20 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: might think of it today. With square hives and the 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: beekeeper in the white suit with a big veiled hat. 22 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: I mean, that's a relatively recent invention, but beekeeping has 23 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: a practice has existed for thousands of years. Basically all 24 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: over the world. Every continent except Antarctica has native bee 25 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: species that store at least some honey in their nests, 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: and almost without exception, people who have lived near these 27 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: bees have developed methods to keep them and manage them, 28 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: either in their nests out in the wild, or in 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: hives that are made for that purpose. So this is 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: really a global story. It's one that has lots of 31 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: pieces that overlap and lots of different methods being practiced 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: at the same time. So, for example, if you're listening 33 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: to the episode and we're talking about methods of tracking 34 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: wild bees that are about two thousand years old, and 35 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: you're thinking, but wait, weren't people keeping bees in hives 36 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: by that point. We will get to that part two. Also, 37 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: we're using the past tense for a lot of this 38 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: episode because we're talking about techniques and practices that started 39 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: way in the past. But in a lot of cases, 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: these same things, including hunting bees and keeping bees out 41 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: in the wild, like they're all, they're still practice today. 42 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: They did not go away. So most of humanity's beekeeping 43 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: efforts have involved social bees that store honey in their nests. 44 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: Today that tends to be one of various subspecies of 45 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: the western or European honeybee or APIs melifera, but there 46 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: are lots of other bees that also store honey, and 47 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 1: they are part of beekeeping history too. The giant honeybee 48 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: or APIs dorsata, is native to southern and Southeast Asia. 49 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 1: Most tropical regions of the world have their own native 50 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: species of stingless bees. That name is something of a misnomer. 51 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: Most stingless bees do have stingers, but those stingers are 52 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: smaller and they don't usually have structures for injecting venom. 53 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: Other bees, including bumble bees, also store some honey, but 54 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,360 Speaker 1: in much smaller amounts, and there are also honey storing 55 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: insects besides bees, including some species of wasps and ants. 56 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: People have harvested and used the honey and other resources 57 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 1: that all of these insects produce and store in their nests, 58 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: and in some cases they've kept these insects in one 59 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: way or another, But for the most part, today we 60 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: are focusing on honeybees, giant honey bees, and stingless bees, 61 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: which have historically made up just the vast majority of 62 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: bee keeping efforts around the world. I'm thinking of the 63 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: eddyizard line. If bees make honey, do earwigs make chutney? 64 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: Bees have been on earth for longer than humans have. 65 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: Fossil evidence shows that flowering plants existed at least least 66 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: one hundred million years ago during their Cretaceous period, so 67 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: did insects that fed from the pollen and nectar found 68 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: in those flowers. The oldest fossilized bee honey is about 69 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,719 Speaker 1: fifty million years old. Of course, there is no written 70 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: record of this, but based on the behavior of other primates, 71 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: it is incredibly likely that our earliest ancestors found and 72 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: raided these nests as soon as they realized that they 73 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: were there. So yeah, it's it's not a far logical 74 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: leap that basically as soon as hominids were like there 75 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: is something sweet and delicious over there, that they would 76 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: have figured out how a way to get at it, 77 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: and then the brood, like the immature bees that are 78 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: in the honeycomb, like they're a source of protein. There's 79 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff you can get out of nests 80 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: that people were clearly getting way back before recorded history. 81 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: Our first documentation of humans interaction with bees goes back 82 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: to rock and cave art from the Mesolithic period, and 83 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: that period started about twenty thousand years ago. This artwork 84 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: exists in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, and it shows 85 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:13,119 Speaker 1: people in a variety of situations. The exact details vary 86 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,919 Speaker 1: based on what kind of bees lived in a particular 87 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: area and what people did to hunt them and harvest 88 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: their nests. For example, in places where bees nest in cavities, 89 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: figures are shown on ladders next to holes surrounded by 90 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: flying insects, while others in the scene are holding things 91 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: like buckets or what may be smokers to pacify or 92 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: drive away those insects. In places where giant honey bees 93 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: nest out in the open, people are climbing ladders or 94 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,679 Speaker 1: scaling cliffs to get to the exposed combs. There's also 95 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,919 Speaker 1: a painting at the Chatakuk Archaeological site in what is 96 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: now Turkey that dates back to about sixty six hundred 97 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,799 Speaker 1: BCE which appears to show honeycombs with immature bees inside 98 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: the cells that suggests that the people who made the 99 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: art have a lot of first hand familiarity with bees 100 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: and their nests. There's also some Mesolithic cave art showing 101 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: bee's importance to other animals. One rock painting in eastern 102 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: Spain shows what appears to be an animal's paw reaching 103 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: toward a hole that has flying insects around it, so 104 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: that's most likely a bear trying to get it a 105 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: nest of honey. And we have evidence of some of 106 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,720 Speaker 1: the things that people made using what they harvested from 107 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:30,360 Speaker 1: bees nests. For example, archaeologists have dated artifacts made using 108 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,719 Speaker 1: the lost wax process to about thirty five hundred BCE. 109 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: These artifacts, which were made in the region around the 110 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: Dead Sea, were made by creating a model out of 111 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: beeswax and then making a cast of that model using 112 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: sand or clay. The wax would burn away or be lost, 113 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: which is where it gets its name when the mold 114 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: was fired, and then molten metal would be poured into 115 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: the space in the mold. Humanity's first honey and bee 116 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: hunts were probably pretty opportunistic. People would happen upon a 117 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: nest of bees somewhere and rate it, probably without a 118 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: lot of protection from stings or, in the case of 119 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: stingless bees, from things like bites or irritating substances that 120 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: they carry on their legs. Early opportunistic bee hunts probably 121 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: also didn't do a lot to protect the bee colony 122 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: that was being rated. People would carry away everything that 123 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: they could from the nest, and when the human population 124 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: was pretty small and bee colonies were really abundant, there 125 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: still would have been lots of unaffected colonies so that 126 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: the bees themselves survived as a species. As soon as 127 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: societies developed the concept of personal property and laws related 128 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: to that property, there were also laws about who owned bees. 129 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: These laws included things like the ownership of nests on 130 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: a person's property, the ownership of swarms that hadn't yet 131 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: found a new nesting site, how nests had to be 132 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: marked to show who owned them, and punishments and restitution 133 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: to be paid if someone harmed someone else's bees or nests. 134 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: And of course, on a more general note, there are 135 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: references to bees, bees, wax, and honey all over literature 136 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: all over the world, going back to the earliest uses 137 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: of written language. Over time, opportunistic bee hunting and just 138 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: sort of taking advantage of bees that were already there 139 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: evolved into a more intentional process, with people methodically looking 140 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: for bees and their nests instead of basically harvesting nests 141 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: as they happened to find them, and this essentially happened 142 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: everywhere on Earth that had both people and honey storing bees, 143 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: with the only exceptions being in places that developed religious 144 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: prohibitions against harming insects or depriving them of their honey 145 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: or their brood. The exact steps involved in hunting bees 146 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: depended on what kind of bees lived in a particular area, 147 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: but in general, people started by watching for bees, either 148 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: at water sources or near flowers. In about the year 149 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: fifty CE, Roman writer Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella described it 150 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: this way quote, First we must try to discover how 151 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: far away they are, and for this purpose liquid red 152 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 1: ochre must be prepared. Then, after touching the backs of 153 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: the bees with stocks smeared with this liquid, as they 154 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: are drinking at the spring waiting in the same place, 155 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: you will be able to more easily recognize the bees 156 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: when they return. If they are not slow in returning, 157 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: you know that they dwell in the neighborhood. But if 158 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: they are late In doing so, you will calculate the 159 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: distance by the period of their delay. So bees obviously 160 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: are small they move fast, so it can be hard 161 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: to track a bee, even for an experienced bee hunter. 162 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: So people also figured out ways to make it easier 163 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: to follow a bee back to the nest. In some cultures, 164 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: people have physically attached something to the bees to make 165 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: them more visible, like a very fine thread, or a 166 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: piece of grass or a little bit of paper. This 167 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: idea is so charming to me, but also I'm like, man, 168 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: how challenging it must be to just attack something to 169 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:05,400 Speaker 1: a bee while it's drinking some water. This would both 170 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: make the bee easier to see by basically sticking a 171 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: little flag on it, and then also slow the bee 172 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: down as it tried to carry this extra weight while 173 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: it flew back to the nest. People also figured out 174 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: ways to take advantage of the fact that bees generally 175 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: fly in a straight line when going back to their nest, 176 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: So if you collect several bees in a portable box 177 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: or trap, you can let them out one at a time, 178 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: following each bee until you lose sight of it. Kalumela 179 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,559 Speaker 1: has more detail about how this was done in the 180 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: Roman Empire writing quote, the joint of a reed with 181 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,240 Speaker 1: the knots at either end, is cut, and a hole 182 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: bored in the side of the rod thus formed, through 183 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: which you should drop a little honey or boiled down must. 184 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: The rod is then placed near a spring. Then when 185 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: a number of bees attracted by the smell of the 186 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: sweet liquid have crept into it, the rod is taken 187 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: away and the thumb placed on the whole, and one 188 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: bee only released at a time, which, when it has escaped, 189 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: shows the line of its flight to the observer, and he, 190 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: as long as he can keep up, follows it as 191 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: it flies away. Then when he can no longer see 192 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 1: the bee, he lets out another, and if it seeks 193 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: the same quarter of the heavens, he persists in following 194 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: his former tracks. Otherwise, he opens the hole and allows 195 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: them to emerge one after another, and marks the direction 196 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: in which most of them fly home, and pursues them 197 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: until he is led to the lurking place of the swarm. 198 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: Kalamela describes using a piece of reed for making this 199 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: bee tracking trap, but other cultures have used this same 200 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: basic process, making their traps out of other materials, including antlers, horns, 201 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: and crafted boxes made of something like wood or metal 202 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: that were created specifically for that purpose. Historically, people have 203 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: also observed other animals to figure out where bees might 204 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: be nesting, particularly animals like bears and honey badgers, which 205 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: are also known to be fond of honey, and in 206 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: parts of tropical Appa and Asia, there is also the 207 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: honeyguide bird. These are birds that are fond of eating beeswax, 208 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: and bee larvae, but can't easily get into the nest 209 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: without help, so after finding a nest, the honeyguide will 210 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: try to attract the attention of a mammal like a 211 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: badger or even a person. For at least five hundred years, 212 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: people in some parts of Africa, including Tanzania, Zambia, and 213 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,320 Speaker 1: Mozambique have developed calls to basically let the honey guides 214 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: know that they are ready to go on a hunt. 215 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: And exactly what that call sounds like varies from place 216 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: to place. That's a relationship between honeyguide birds and people. 217 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: Delights me. Oh same, It's so cool just in general. 218 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: The fact that the bird was like, I want to 219 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 1: get in this nest. I can't by myself. I'm gonna 220 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: flap my wings around and make noise attention of something bigger. 221 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,839 Speaker 1: So as people moved from harvesting nests that they happen 222 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: to find to intentionally searching for them, they also move 223 00:12:56,720 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: from just harvesting the nests when they found them to 224 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: ten those nests in the wild. People have done things 225 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 1: like wrapping bee trees to insulate them in the winter, 226 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: keeping the nests entrances clear, enlarging a cavity where the 227 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,880 Speaker 1: bees were nesting to make more room, or hollowing out 228 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,559 Speaker 1: similar cavities nearby with the hope of attracting a swarm. 229 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,840 Speaker 1: People have also improved wild nests to make it easier 230 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: to access their contents, things like adding little doors into 231 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: a tree that a person could reach into and then 232 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,679 Speaker 1: close the door behind them, or building steps and ladders 233 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: to reach nests that are in high places. Eventually, people 234 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: also started building structures specifically with the hope of attracting bees, 235 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: including in places where the bees couldn't have survived otherwise, like, 236 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:47,400 Speaker 1: for example, building thick walled cavities at oases in the 237 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: Sahara Desert with the hope of sustaining bee colonies inside 238 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: the walls. That gets a little closer to the way 239 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: most people think of bee keeping today with purpose built 240 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: enclosures to house bees in a specific location, and we'll 241 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: get more into that after a sponsor break. In a 242 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:18,280 Speaker 1: very general sense, a beehive is any man made enclosure 243 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: for housing bees, and people have been keeping bees in 244 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: hives for a really long time, overlapping all that bee 245 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: hunting that we just talked about earlier. This possibly goes 246 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: back all the way to the very beginnings of agriculture. 247 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: A paper published in the journal Nature in twenty sixteen 248 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: describes bees wax lipid residues that were found in Neolithic 249 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: pottery samples from Europe, the Near East, and northern Africa, 250 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: and these findings suggest that the pots might have been 251 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: used as hives, although it's also possible that they were 252 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: used to store wax that people had harvested out in 253 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: the wild. We do know that people were keeping bees 254 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 1: in hives in the Nile Delta by about five thousand 255 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: bees An ancient Egyptian art is full of depictions of 256 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 1: bees and hives and beekeeping. One relief dating back to 257 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: the Fifth Dynasty, which started around twenty four to sixty 258 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: five BCE, shows beekeepers at work in an apiary, suggesting 259 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: that beekeeping was well established in ancient Egypt at that point. 260 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: Honey bees also have a place in Egyptian mythology as 261 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: being transformed from the tears of the god Raw after 262 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: they fell to earth. The first written depiction of a 263 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: beehive in China dates back to about three hundred BCE, 264 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: although the first Chinese references to honey as medicine are 265 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: ten times older than that. In Mesoamerica, people started keeping 266 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: stingless bees in hives made out of calabash gourds somewhere 267 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: between three hundred BCE and three hundred cees, so in 268 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: a lot of different parts of the world this goes 269 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: back for thousands of years. These first bee hives tended 270 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,320 Speaker 1: to be pretty simple. Most were horizontally oriented cylinders with 271 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: a small opening at one end that was big enough 272 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: for bees to pass through most of the time, but 273 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: not always. The other end had some kind of removable 274 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: covering to allow people to harvest from the hive, sometimes 275 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: after using smoke to drive the bees away from that 276 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: end of the hive first. In some regions, these hives 277 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: were like a long, narrow pot placed on its side, 278 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: with a removable covering at one end that had a 279 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: hole in the middle for the bees to pass through. 280 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: Around the world, these horizontal hives were made using a 281 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: variety of materials. Hollow logs, including logs that had been 282 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 1: cut from trees with the bees already inside and then 283 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 1: taken somewhere else, straw or grass mats rolled into a 284 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: cylinder and then covered with mud or clay pottery. Sometimes 285 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: people scored the interior of pottery cylinders with shallow lines 286 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: that were cut into the surface, both to give the 287 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: bees a roughened anchor point when they started to build 288 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: their honeycombs, and also to encourage them to build those 289 00:16:55,920 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: combs in a particular direction. Other hive designs followed from 290 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: these basic horizontal cylinders. Some were similar to the ones 291 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,479 Speaker 1: we just described, but rectangular rather than cylindrical. Others were 292 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: vertically oriented rather than horizontal. The giant honey bees that 293 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: are native to parts of Asia don't nest in enclosed spaces, 294 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 1: so in that part of the world people attach slanted 295 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: boards to trees as anchor points for honeycombs. These are 296 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: known as rafters because of their resemblance to the rafters 297 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: in the roof of a house, and it is not 298 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: just a matter of sticking them to a tree. Beekeepers 299 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,200 Speaker 1: have to account for wind, sunlight, surrounding foliage, and more 300 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: when selecting the exact right spot to hang a rafter. 301 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: In some places, particularly in Western Europe, people have also 302 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: kept bees in skeps that are woven from things like 303 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 1: straw or wicker. These look pretty much like upside down baskets, 304 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: with the open mouth resting on a flat surface and 305 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: a small opening on the side that acts as a 306 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: doorway for the bees. Especially in places where the weather 307 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: was cool and damp, like for example, in England, steps 308 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: were usually kept in little shelves or shelters that offered 309 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: some kind of protection from the elements. Most of the 310 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: time a skeep is harvest by lifting it up off 311 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: of that flat surface that it rests on and then 312 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: removing the contents from underneath, but some steps also have 313 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: sort of a hinged lid up at the top. In 314 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,760 Speaker 1: many cases, harvesting these fixed comb hives involved killing the 315 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,800 Speaker 1: bee colony inside. In some cases, as many bees as 316 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: possible were shaken or drummed into another hive first, but 317 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: a lot of the time the loss of the hive 318 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: was just considered part of the process. People captured swarms 319 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: of bees in the springtime, tended the hive for a season, 320 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: and then harvested them before winter, starting that whole process 321 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: over again the following spring, or a beekeeper might leave 322 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: the hives that seemed most likely to survive the winter unharvested, 323 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: with the hope that they would swarm and fill empty 324 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: hives in the spring. So this was one of the 325 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:01,960 Speaker 1: reasons why people started trying to figure out ways to 326 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,159 Speaker 1: make bee hives that had removable colmbs to try to 327 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: preserve more of the bee colonies. If you could easily 328 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: remove just some sections of honeycomb without damaging the others 329 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: or the hive itself, that could preserve the colony. Also, 330 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,640 Speaker 1: at least in theory, such a harvesting method might also 331 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: be easier and cause less agitation for the bees, maybe 332 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,440 Speaker 1: leading to fewer stings on the beekeeper. The first hives 333 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 1: with removable combs were vertically oriented and opened at the top, 334 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: with a series of slats or bars placed over the 335 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: opening instead of one solid lid. People had figured out 336 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: that if you left some space between each slat, the 337 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: bees would build separate combs, one per slat, and then 338 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: you could remove a slat from the hive, taking it 339 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: in the attached comb out of the hive, while leaving 340 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: the rest of the combs untouched. One of the first 341 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: written records of a hive like this came from French 342 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: doctor Jacob Spon and English botan George Wheeler. They were 343 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: traveling together and saw them in use in Attica, Greece 344 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 1: in sixteen seventy five, so hundreds of years ago. Similar 345 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,880 Speaker 1: systems also developed, apparently separately, in Vietnam. By the time 346 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: people started developing hives with removable combs, they had also 347 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: started developing beekeeping garments that were meant to minimize stings. 348 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: For much of beekeeping history, people didn't really have specific 349 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: bee keeping attire in places where the bees were stingless 350 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 1: or very gentle. It wasn't really needed in tropical regions 351 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: where people didn't wear as much clothing, Sometimes they removed 352 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: what they did wear to keep bees from being trapped 353 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: in that fabric. In other places, people may have done 354 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 1: sturdy clothing with long sleeves and gloves, but it really 355 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: wasn't much different from what they would wear for other work. 356 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: By about the fourteen hundreds, though, people in Europe had 357 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: started making garments specifically for working with bees, which were 358 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: intended to minimize the likelihood of getting stung. The details 359 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,879 Speaker 1: depended somewhat on what was already fashionable in a particular place. 360 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 1: In France, for example, the first purpose made beekeeping garments 361 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: were hoods that covered the face with an insert that 362 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: was made of a mesh of horsehair or wire or 363 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 1: some other material that would offer some protection but also 364 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,480 Speaker 1: offer at least some visibility. Was because hoods were a 365 00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: little more common in terms of fashion in England, where 366 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: brimmed hats were in fashion. The first beekeeping hoods were 367 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: large hats with veils attached around that brim, and eventually 368 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: the standard outfit also evolved to include a blouse. In 369 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety six, bee master John Keyes published a book 370 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: called The Antient Bee Master's Farewell or Full and Plane 371 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 1: Directions for the Management of Bees to the greatest Advantage, 372 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: disclosing further improvements of the hives, boxes, and other instruments 373 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: to facilitate the operations, especially that of separating double and 374 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:02,479 Speaker 1: trouble hives or boxes. Also brief remarks on Shirach and 375 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:06,639 Speaker 1: other distinguished apiators on the continent. Deduced from a series 376 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: of experiments during thirty years. Oh how I love a 377 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:14,719 Speaker 1: long title. HU. It has a chapter on bee dress 378 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: in which Keys advises making a hood by attaching bolting 379 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: cloth to the brim of an old hat, with the 380 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: brim cut down to two inches all the way around 381 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: and the cloth hanging a foot in the areas around 382 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: the nose, chin, and neck reinforced with oiled linen. He 383 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: also recommends leather gloves, old stockings over the extremities, and 384 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: an apron. If you're not familiar with bolting cloth, it's 385 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: like a pretty sturdy cloth that was woven to allow 386 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,159 Speaker 1: for things like sifting with it. Keys also concludes this 387 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: chapter by saying, quote, women should not meddle with bees 388 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: without this bee dress, nor than without the addition of 389 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: a man's coat. And I almost said breeches. Also, I 390 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,120 Speaker 1: don't want it tell you to dress like a man, 391 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: but it might be in your best interest, but I'm 392 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,919 Speaker 1: not saying it. I love that quote a lot, like 393 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: I almost said breaching, almost, but maybe not. Keith's book 394 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: was just on the cusp of beekeeping as most people 395 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: might recognize it today, and we're going to get into 396 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: that after we first paused for a little sponsor break. 397 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: Starting in about the seventeenth century, a couple of things 398 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: happened in tandem that radically changed beekeeping pretty much around 399 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: the world. One was that colonists started introducing European or 400 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: Western honeybees into other parts of the world to which 401 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: they were not native. This started with the first successful 402 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: introduction of European honeybees into Bermuda in sixteen seventeen, with 403 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: those bees kept cool during the voyage across the Atlantic 404 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: to try to keep them in a way intertime state 405 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,919 Speaker 1: of dormancy during the trip. The colonial introduction of the 406 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: European honeybee into other parts of the world continued for 407 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: more than two hundred years, and a lot of places 408 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:16,280 Speaker 1: European honeybees spread really quickly, with swarms of bees pretty 409 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 1: much moving ahead of the colonists. The other was a 410 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: shift in beekeeping as it was practiced with European honeybees. 411 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: Starting in the sixteen hundreds, there was a huge focus 412 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: on the idea of scientific beekeeping, especially in Europe. Beekeepers, naturalists, entomologists, 413 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: and others all wanted to improve the practice of beekeeping 414 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: based on scientific principles, ideally in a way that allowed 415 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: beekeepers to harvest from hives without killing the bees. During 416 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: this process, beekeeping was being informed by new scientific discoveries 417 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: about bees, and science was making new discoveries about bees 418 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 1: thanks to beekeeping. One development that was part of this 419 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 1: was the observation high, in other words, a hive with 420 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: transparent walls that allowed people to see the bees and 421 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: their work inside. And his fourteenth century work Life of Animals, 422 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,680 Speaker 1: al Damiri described an observation hive that had belonged to Aristotle. 423 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: Wrote that the bees were so annoyed by Aristotle's nosing 424 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: into their business that they covered over the glass with clay. 425 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: Aristotle lived in the fourth century BCE, and this fourteenth 426 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 1: century reference seems to be the first account of him 427 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: having a hive like this, so that's probably not accurate 428 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: that he really did have one, but it does mean 429 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,240 Speaker 1: that by the time al Damiri was writing, at least 430 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: the idea of an observation hive existed. I love the 431 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: idea of bees building a privacy wall, though, yea. By 432 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: the seventeenth century there were definitely observation hives out in 433 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: the world, thanks in part to earlier developments in glassmaking. 434 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: In sixteen fifty four, doctor John Wilkins gave an observation 435 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: high to English gardener and diarist John Evelyn, who documented 436 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: it with a diagram. A year later. On May fifth, 437 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:11,040 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty five, Samuel Peeps wrote about seeing this hive 438 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: quote after dinner to mister Evelyn's he being abroad, we 439 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: walked in his garden, and a lovely noble ground he 440 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: hath indeed, and among other rarities, a hive of bees. 441 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 1: So as being hived in glass, you may see the 442 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,399 Speaker 1: bees making their honey and combs mighty pleasantly. I agree 443 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: with Samuel Peeps that it is mighty pleasant to watch 444 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: the bees through the class. It really is. Anytime I'm 445 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,239 Speaker 1: in a science museum, I get super excited when there 446 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: is a glass bee enclosure. I think it's oddly soothing. 447 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: There's something about it that just puts the brain at rest. 448 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: Transparent hives let people get a much closer and more 449 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,959 Speaker 1: accurate look at a lot of day to day life 450 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: of bees, including their anatomy and their reproduction. In the 451 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, for example, French inventor Renee and Juan Fechol 452 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 1: del Remuer used transparent hives to do some really groundbreaking 453 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,520 Speaker 1: work about bee reproduction and the way that bees used 454 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,920 Speaker 1: their bodies to regulate the hive's temperature. In the late 455 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, Swiss entomologist and naturalist Francois huber took this 456 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 1: bee observation one step forward with what he called a 457 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: leaf hive. This was a beehive shaped almost like a book, 458 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: with each comb in its own wooden frame and the 459 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: frames on hinges so that you could move from one 460 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: page to the next. Hubert used this hive in his 461 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: extensive study of bees, which he undertook with the help 462 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: of his wife, his son, and his assistant Francois Bernan, 463 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:44,199 Speaker 1: who helped record visual observations since Hubert was blind. This 464 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: leaf hive was enormously beneficial to scientific study, but it 465 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,239 Speaker 1: was certainly not practical for everyday beekeeping. But it was 466 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,160 Speaker 1: developed in the middle of a two hundred year effort 467 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: to create a practical, affordable, modular bee hive for European 468 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,439 Speaker 1: honeybees that would allow easy removal and extraction of the 469 00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: honeycombs with as little disruption to the lives of the 470 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: bees as possible. And there were a lot of different 471 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: people who put in the work on this between the 472 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,360 Speaker 1: sixteen hundreds and the eighteen hundreds. Most of them were 473 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:20,000 Speaker 1: in England, France, and other parts of Western Europe. As 474 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: we noted earlier, there were a whole lot of bees 475 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: in the Americans with this introduction of bees through colonialism, 476 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: but American bee keepers weren't really involved in this until 477 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds because before that point there was just 478 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 1: so much forage available for bees. It was very easy 479 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: to keep bees. In a lot of parts of North America, 480 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: they had been more focused on controlling wax moths that 481 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: could really destroy the hives. The person who is typically 482 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: credited for developing the modern beehive is the Reverend Lorenzo 483 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: Lorraine Langstross, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied 484 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: and built on those earlier centuries of improvements. Langstross based 485 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: a lot of his work on a high developed by 486 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: August Munn in eighteen thirty four, which used hanging frames 487 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: with space between each frame and around each edge. Langstroth 488 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: was also inspired by Huber's leaf hive, since it showed 489 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: that the frames could be moved without angering the bees 490 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:19,080 Speaker 1: too badly, and Langstrot's view the ideal hive had a 491 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: lot of requirements It had to allow the beekeeper to 492 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: perform every necessary function of beekeeping, including the collecting honey, 493 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: without killing or injuring any bees. The beekeeper had to 494 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: be able to remove combs from the hive without angering 495 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: the bees or damaging the combs. The hive had to 496 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: protect the bees from the elements with adequate ventilation and 497 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: a removable bottom to allow for the removal of dead 498 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: bees or other debris. The hive had to allow the 499 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 1: bees to build and just to live without being required 500 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: to do any extra work. And it also had to 501 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: accommodate colonies of different sizes. And all of the parts 502 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: of this hive that he had in mind needed to 503 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: be interchangeable, so that a beekeeper could use the same 504 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: parts with different hives as needed. And then, on top 505 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: of all that and assorted other details, Langstroth's ideal hive 506 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: needed to be combined into one cheap, simple form. Langstroth 507 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: introduced his hive in eighteen fifty one. It used hanging 508 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: frames with a one centimeter gap between each frame and 509 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,360 Speaker 1: between the edge of the frame and the interior of 510 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: the hive itself. This amount of space is also described 511 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: as somewhere between a quarter and three eighths of an inch. 512 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,959 Speaker 1: Langstroth called this small gap the bee space. Bees needed 513 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 1: to move around the hive, but they won't build their 514 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: combes in the space. The hives frames hung in a 515 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,240 Speaker 1: durable box of the lid made by cabinet maker Henry Burkham. 516 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: The whole thing made it much easier and more efficient 517 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: for beekeepers to check on their beeves and to harvest 518 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:56,120 Speaker 1: their hives. Langstroth patented his hive in eighteen fifty two, 519 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: and he published a book about it and about beekeeping 520 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:02,880 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty three. The Langstroth hive and similar hives 521 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: that were patterned after it, made bee keeping a lot 522 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: more accessible with a much larger possible honey yield, although 523 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: getting started with one did require some initial investment. It 524 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: also became a lot easier for people to use Western 525 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: honeybees as crop pollinators. At the same time, though, it 526 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: became much easier for diseases and mites to spread through 527 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:31,080 Speaker 1: densely populated apiaries. When colony collapse disorders started making headlines 528 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen nineties and early two thousands, people 529 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: wondered about whether the proliferation of farmed Western honeybees was 530 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: part of the problem. The spread of European honeybees also 531 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: led to more competition with native bees for forage. There 532 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:51,280 Speaker 1: is some conflicting data about this today. Whether domesticated European 533 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,120 Speaker 1: honeybees are harmful to native bees can depend on the 534 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: conditions in a particular area, like exactly how many domesticated 535 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: bees there are, how much forage is available, and exactly 536 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: what kind of forage it is. Another result of the 537 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: introduction of the Langstroth hive and the surge of beekeeping 538 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: that followed was an expansion of beekeeping as a field. 539 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: People started forming beekeeping associations, they established beekeeping journals and 540 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: other periodicals, and they started beekeeping guilds. This was a 541 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: lot different from previous eras when most people who wrote 542 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: about bees were naturalists or philosophers or entomologists, rather than 543 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,720 Speaker 1: people who were specializing just in bees and beekeeping. Although 544 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: the Langstroth hive has become standard beekeeping equipment in many 545 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: parts of the world, beekeeping continues to develop. This episode 546 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: has been about social bees that store honey, but starting 547 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties, people in the United States and 548 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:50,840 Speaker 1: Japan figured out how to domesticate solitary leaf cutting bees 549 00:32:50,880 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: to pollinate alfalfa plants. Not all of the developments have 550 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: been positive, though. In nineteen fifty six, Brazilian agricultural worker 551 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: Warwick Estevam Kerr and others were looking for a breed 552 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: of bee that might be better suited to the American 553 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: tropics than European honeybees were. They imported almost fifty bee 554 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,000 Speaker 1: queens from Africa, which he helped to breed with European 555 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: honeybee drones. Their goal was to try to create a 556 00:33:18,240 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: breed that had a more docile temperament like European bees do, 557 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: but was more physically adapted to life in the tropical 558 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: climate like African bees. The details are not entirely clear, 559 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,480 Speaker 1: but in nineteen fifty seven, the queen excluders were removed 560 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: from the hives that Kerr was using, something that may 561 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,480 Speaker 1: have been accidental, or it may have been someone trying 562 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: to be helpful. Several of the hives swarmed and the 563 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: bees escaped into the surrounding forests. This was the origin 564 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: of what came to be known as Africanized honeybees, which 565 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: tend to be more aggressive and territorial than their Western counterpart. 566 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,120 Speaker 1: They have since spread northward and southward through most of 567 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:03,200 Speaker 1: South America, through Central America, and into the southwestern and 568 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: southern United States. There are so many other things that 569 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 1: we could have discussed in this episode, like b mythology 570 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:15,279 Speaker 1: and religious symbolism, and how the scientific understanding of bee 571 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 1: society evolved, and how mail order package bees came to 572 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,799 Speaker 1: be and other modern beehive designs, and various writers through 573 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,479 Speaker 1: history who thought the queen bee was really a king, 574 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:33,240 Speaker 1: and how gender roles have varied among beekeepers across global societies. Really, 575 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: somebody could have a whole entire podcast that was only 576 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: about beekeeping history. It is a lot and if you 577 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: want a lot more detail about exactly which cultures were 578 00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:48,719 Speaker 1: doing what a different types of hives and all of that, 579 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: try to get your hands on a copy of the 580 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:55,799 Speaker 1: World History of Beekeeping and honey Hunting. Your most likely 581 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: source to find it is in a university library. It 582 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,320 Speaker 1: is a textbook. It is more than seven hundred pages long, 583 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:06,080 Speaker 1: and because it's a textbook, the writing is very spare 584 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:10,040 Speaker 1: in its style. Those are seven hundred plus pages of 585 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: detail about bees without a lot of extraneous side. So 586 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: that's our brief history of beekeeping. Thanks so much for 587 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:28,640 Speaker 1: joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out 588 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:30,600 Speaker 1: of the archive, if you heard an email address or 589 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 1: a Facebook RL or something similar over the course of 590 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:36,840 Speaker 1: the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current email 591 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 1: address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can 592 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,240 Speaker 1: find us all over social media at missed in History, 593 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 594 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,239 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen 595 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:57,440 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 596 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,719 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcas casts from iHeartRadio, visit 597 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 598 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:06,120 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.