Η ελληνική μελισσοκομία στη διαχρονία: υλικά, μέθοδοι, διαχείριση του χώρου

Abstract

According to indirect evidence, beekeeping appeared in the Greek territory during the Bronze Age, in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC at the latest. However, our knowledge regarding the techniques of beekeeping practice is unknown. In fact, an important piece of information we still miss is the type (or types) of beehive used in this period. And despite the many suggestions made, there is no certainty concerning the beehives used. Ancient Greek literature offers scarce evidence regarding the beekeeping practice, but absolutely no hint about the hives used. On the contrary, ancient Latin texts include considerable information about beehive types and uses. On the other hand, archaeological investigations in Greece shed some light on the matter, as evidenced by ceramic beehives that are unique within the entire Mediterranean. These beehives are different than those described by Roman authors, and they could be divided into three main types: a) horizontal, open-at-one-end beehives, with quite short extension rings adjusted to their mouths; b) horizontal open-at-one-end beehives, with one or more holes pierced at the closed edge; and c) vertical open-at-the-top beehives. In addition, there is some evidence for the use of horizontal beehives open-at-both-ends, which, however, has not been confirmed. The use of horizontal open-at-one-end beehive, which was undoubtedly the commonest type in ancient Greece, along with the vertical open-at-the-top type, demanded beekeeping handling that differed from those described by Roman authors. To test how these types of ceramic beehives worked, we practiced experimental beekeeping employing replicas of both these types. As a result of this archaeological experiment a) we clarified the mode of operation of the horizontal open-at-one-end beehive type with the extension rings, and b) we proved that it was the vertical open-at-the-top type used in antiquity; in fact, this type was used as movable-comb beehive, in the same way as the traditional beehives of similar shape were utilized until recently in some areas of southern Greece. During the early and middle Byzantine period, at least in southern Greece, beekeeping continued using the horizontal beehive types known since antiquity. From the 6th/7th century onwards, open-at-both-ends ceramic beehives have been used. From the 7th century, open-at-one-end beehives with a hole at the closed edge were also used, at least in Crete. However, the hole at the closed end of the hives did not constitute an entrance for the bees. These hives bearded extension rings placed at their mouth and they were placed steadily inside bee boles. Thus, the role of the hole at the closed end is suggested to have served as a ventilator to avoid excessive moisture. Beekeeping with hives made of other materials as practiced in Byzantine times is, evidenced, at least to some degree, from the scant but valuable information of Byzantine authors, the miniatures found in Greek manuscripts, and those in the Exultet scrolls from southern Italy. There is not much information about beekeeping practiced during the post-Byzantine era. However, two works by Greek beekeepers, namely Zuanne Papadopoli and Abbot Della Rocca, written in Italian and French, respectively, constitute documents regarding the beekeeping of that period in central Crete and on Syros Island. The travel impressions of foreign travelers who visited Greek areas in the 17th and 18th centuries also offer valuable information about Greek beekeeping, especially that of Attica. The information regarding beekeeping during the last two centuries gathered herewith originates from published resources and unpublished sources; it concerns all regions where Greek beekeepers were used to be active during the above period of time, including the southern coast of the Black Sea (Pontus), Cappadocia, western Asia Minor, Eastern Thrace, Cyprus, and of course nowadays Greece. Thus, a picture of traditional Greek beekeeping (as complete as possible) was created for the first time, which allowed comparisons in space and, in several cases, over time. Indeed, there is some continuity of beekeeping practice from antiquity to the 20th century, which is rather evident in certain areas of southern Greece. In these areas, viz. Crete, Cythera, the eastern Peloponnese, the Argo-Saronic islands, a large part of Attica, the Cycladic Islands, the islands of the eastern Aegean, and the Dodecanese, the types of hives used were similar to those used in the antiquity and the Middle Ages. These were of the following three types: a) the horizontal open-at-one-end, in which extensions were also placed; b) the horizontal open-at-one-end with a hole at its closed end; and c) the vertical open-at-the-top. In none of these types of hives, bee colonies have been ever killed for honey harvest. In central and northern mainland Greece, the Ionian Islands, and some northern Aegean islands, traditional beekeeping was radically different from that of antiquity. Beekeeping was basically practiced by using vertical open-at-the-bottom hive types. In several areas of the central and northern parts of the Greek mainland, bee colonies in open-at-the-bottom hives were killed to collect honey and wax, in cases until the mid-20th century. The traditional beekeeping of Cyprus differed markedly from that of Greece. In Cyprus, exclusively horizontal beehives made mainly of sun-dried mud or clay were used. On this island, the beekeeping seems to be similar to that of the Near East, where the aforementioned beehives were in use, at least since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. Traditional beekeeping started to decline, abandoned en masse by Greek beekeepers, in the 1960s and especially the 1970s in favor of the frame hive whose use marks the transition towards modern beekeeping. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, traditional beekeeping in Greece and Cyprus was essentially abandoned due to the arrival of Varroa destructor, a mite enemy of bees from Indochina, which could not be treated in the conditions of traditional beekeeping.

Η μελισσοκομία εμφανίστηκε στον ελλαδικό χώρο κατά την Εποχή του Χαλκού, το αργότερο στα μέσα της 2ης χιλιετίας π.Χ.. Έως τώρα, ωστόσο, δεν έχουν επιβεβαιωθεί οι χρησιμοποιούμενοι από τους προϊστορικούς μελισσοκόμους τύποι κυψελών. Κατά την κλασική αρχαιότητα ήσαν σε χρήση τρεις επιβεβαιωμένοι τύποι πήλινων κυψελών, οι δύο εκ των οποίων ήσαν άγνωστοι σε άλλες περιοχές της Μεσογείου. Ο τρόπος λειτουργίας των κυψελών αυτών εξακριβώθηκε δια της πειραματικής άσκησης μελισσοκομίας με αντίγραφα των κυψελών της αρχαιότητας. Απεδείχθη ότι ο κάθετος ανάστομος τύπος αρχαίας κυψέλης λειτουργούσε με τη μέθοδο των κινητών κηρηθρών, η οποία εφαρμοζόταν στη νότια Ελλάδα έως πριν κάποιες δεκαετίες. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της διατριβής κατέστη επίσης σαφής ο τρόπος λειτουργίας του οριζόντιου μονόστομου τύπου στον οποίον τοποθετούνταν μικρά προεκτάματα. Κατά την πρώιμη και μέση βυζαντινή περίοδο συνεχίστηκε, βάσει των αρχαιολογικών τεκμηρίων, η άσκηση μελισσοκομίας με τους οριζόντιους τύπους πήλινων κυψελών που ήσαν γνωστοί από την αρχαιότητα. Μικρογραφίες που απαντούν σε χειρόγραφα και μερικές πληροφορίες της βυζαντινής γραμματείας βοηθούν στην κατανόηση της βυζαντινής μελισσοκομίας και των εφαρμοζόμενων μεθόδων για κυψέλες από διαφορετικά υλικά κατασκευής και όχι μόνο για τις πήλινες που φέρνει στο φως η αρχαιολογική σκαπάνη. Για τη μεταβυζαντινή εποχή, δύο έργα Ελλήνων μελισσοκόμων που συγγράφηκαν σε ξένη γλώσσα και οι ταξιδιωτικές εντυπώσεις ξένων περιηγητών που επισκέφθηκαν την Ελλάδα τον 17ο και τον 18ο αιώνα, βοηθούν ώστε να αποσαφηνιστεί η μελισσοκομία της περιόδου σε ορισμένες περιοχές, όπως στην κεντρική Κρήτη, τη Σύρο και την Αττική. Όσον αφορά στη μελισσοκομία που μετέρχονταν οι Έλληνες κατά τους δύο τελευταίους αιώνες συγκεντρώθηκαν όλες οι σχετικές πληροφορίες, δημοσιευμένες και αδημοσίευτες, ώστε να δημιουργηθεί μια πλήρης εικόνα της και να είναι εφικτές συγκρίσεις στον χώρο και, σε αρκετές περιπτώσεις, στον χρόνο. Από αυτές προκύπτει η ύπαρξη συνέχειας στην άσκηση της μελισσοκομίας από την αρχαιότητα έως των 20ό αιώνα σε περιοχές της νότιας Ελλάδας και η ριζική διαφοροποίηση από τη μελισσοκομία της αρχαιότητας για τη μελισσοκομία της κεντρικής και βόρειας χώρας, καθώς και ορισμένων νησιών του βορείου Αιγαίου και του Ιονίου.