Better Beekeeping

Often times in man's bid to make his life better he engages in activities that are not at all beneficial to the environment. It is a good thing that there are certain individuals that stand out of the rest and remind the pack that in order for the human species to propagate there should be respect and proper reciprocation to what nature has given. Let's take a look at how crude beekeeping mechanisms developed into better and safer methods.

Honey collecting was quite destructive in the past. The hive was carelessly broken while smoking the bees in order to avoid resistance. The honeycombs were rudely smashed up along with the whole colony. This was the method used by the hunter-gatherer societies but it really didn't matter for them since there were a lot more colonies to exploit. But when the societies moved up to the ranks of settled types the destruction of bee colonies meant a great deal as it indicated a substantial loss of resource.

Since there was a need to eradicate the old means of extracting honey from bee colonies, the 18th and 19th century folks thought of ways in order to lift the process into revolutionary levels which promoted the safety and well-being of the bees. One method employed involved the use of parallel wooden bars placed across the top portion of a straw hive or skep with the objective of having means for bees to fix their combs on. There was a multi-storey configuration in which successive straw hives were utilized and allowed for the preservation of bees even after the harvest of honey. Furthermore, there were accounts stating the use of a principle founded on sliding frames which facilitated building of combs by bees.

It was in the 19th century when the beekeeping practice was elevated into a higher standard via the perfection of the movable comb hive principle by a man named Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth. He was the first person to take advantage of the concept of specific spatial measurement between wax combs which was later tagged as the bee space. He wittingly designed a series of wooden frames within a rectangular hive box while ensuring proper spacing for successive frames. This allowed the beekeeper to conveniently slide any frame to check honey without compromising the safety of the bees. Moreover, emptied honey combs could be placed back to the bees for the refilling phase.

For this achievement Mr. Langstroth was later given the distinct recognition as father of American apiculture. He has been established as the one person who has truly made a mark in the modern method of beekeeping. His book The Hive and Honey-bee was published in 1853 which contained his accounts on bee space and movable comb hive.