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Who were the first beekeepers? Early rock paintings on cave walls in Africa and eastern Spain show people gathering honey from trees or rock crevices with bees fly around them, whilst cave drawings in Spain, near Valencia from around 7000 B.C. show figures climbing to out of reach places and gathering honey. Other cave images show figures surrounded by bees without being stung. Early honey gatherers probably learned by accident that smoke would calm bees as an offshoot of using fire for "warding-off" or driving other animals. 
There is evidence that man has long known that honey is a valuable food source. However, until man took the step to establish artificial hives, honey was only a rarely obtained "sweet reward". Beekeeping originally may have developed following the observation that swarms will settle in any container with a dark interior space protected from the elements, similar to holes in trees or logs where bees are naturally found. Pottery vessels or straw containers provided the necessary shelter and protection for hive establishment. When man learned to safeguard the bees and hives, a number of hives would be situated together in whatever type container was common to the region. Hives made from logs can still be found in forested regions of Europe, horizontal pottery hives are used along the Mediterranean and hives made of woven straw, known as skeps are still used in France and Belgium. Native honey bees are not known from the New World (North, Central and South America), but a stingless, social, honey storing bee is known to have been kept by the Mayans. Stone disks have been found that are thought to have been the end stoppers on wooden log-shaped hives that have since decayed. A pottery incense burner from 1400 A.D. in the form of the Mayan bee god Ah Mucan Cab is known from the island of Cozumel, off the coast of the Yucatán. Even older, are the 37 stone disks found in Belize which may date from 300 B.C. to 300 A.D. and represent the oldest artifacts related to beekeeping in the New World. Beekeeping at our shows has proved to be an extremely popular attraction, so we encourage our experts to bring working hives as well as examples of their delicious products. |
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