Beekeeper. One of the oldest professions in the world

It is a well-known fact that honey is made thanks to bees, however, not everyone is aware of what exactly a beekeeper’s job consists in. It is a unique and very interesting profession with a surprisingly long tradition. What does the man who knows the secrets of bees do?

A short history of beekeeping

It is hard to believe but bees have been living on our planet for 40 million years. The oldest proof that the first humans in the Palaeolithic knew that honey is made thanks to bees are wall paintings found in one of the Spanish caves. These ancient drawings show people taking honey from the nests of wild bees.

The prehistoric human activity depicted in the drawings usually involved destruction of the nest and annihilation, but eventually humans learned to reap the permanent benefits of the bees’ work. Around 500 BC, beekeeping was born – people began to develop ways to keep bees in the wild. Bees primarily produced honey in hollows. The hollows of old, thick forest trees, or beehive, provided plenty of the sweet stuff – their yield was many times greater than that of later beehives set on the ground.

Beekeepers had to show great knowledge, courage, cleverness and agility, which is why they were held in high esteem.

Who is a modern beekeeper?

A beekeeper is concerned with extracting honey from the hives in his apiary. In order to reap the benefits of the bees’ work, he or she has to make sure that the bees have proper living conditions. One cannot overlook the fact that a beekeeper should like his profession, which is, after all, quite a specific one.

A candidate for a beekeeper should like animals, have manual skills and, apart from that, be responsible, patient and resourceful. After all, the profession involves some risk – you might get stung by a nervous bee or a whole swarm of them. It is worth knowing that a beekeeper also collects royal jelly, produces bee beeswax foundations and smelts beeswax.

The beekeeper’s duties

How much time a beekeeper spends at work is closely related to the seasons. In addition to harvesting honey (which begins in June and lasts for 2-3 months), the beekeeper must regularly check the condition of the hives – also in winter, when the bees are asleep. Winter and late autumn is the time for maintenance work and repairing the equipment. Some of the beekeeper’s most important duties include planting melliferous plants and expanding nests – this is done in spring. Spring also sees the first flight of bees after wintering. This is an opportunity for the beekeeper to check the condition and strength of the swarm, which soon starts to work intensively.

When hot weather arrives, the beekeeper must ensure that the hives are well shaded. During this time, he must also make sure that the bees have access to water. It is also a period of intensive honey harvesting for him. One of the beekeeper’s most important tools is the smoke gun, or bee smoker. Thanks to it, it is possible to undertake various works inside the hive, without being afraid that angry bees will decide to attack. The smoke machine works on a similar principle to incense, and its thick, cold smoke calms the bees and makes them move to other parts of the nest. The smoke from the bee smoker does not harm the insects and enables the beekeeper to do honey harvesting and other works without irritating the worker bees.

Experience and tradition

Larger, successful apiaries are usually apiary farms that have been developed and honed by several generations of beekeepers.

If you want to be a beekeeper, you can also work in one of the many apiaries. If you do not have practice, you will need to gain one under the supervision of an experienced beekeeper.

For some time now, there has been a fashion for running one’s own apiary – many people decide to create one from scratch. The fact is, however, that it is only possible to make a living from such an activity after at least a few years of hard work. Honey and other bee products which can be bought in the online shop – Jar of honey – come from the best apiaries, both domestic and foreign, which are subjected to regular inspections.