[Sca-cooks] Beehives from 900BC

Stefan li Rous StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
Wed Sep 12 22:13:37 PDT 2007


  > JERUSALEM --Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have
 > discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry,
 > including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they
 > believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.

 > The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include
 > 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai
 > Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University told The Associated Press.

 > The beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, have a hole at one
 > end to allow the bees in and out and a lid on the other end to
 > allow beekeepers access to the honeycombs inside. They were found
 > in orderly rows, three high, in a room that could have accommodated
 > around 100 hives, Mazar said.

Interesting. These sound very similar to the basket-type beehives  
commonly used in medieval times. However, the medieval hives didn't  
have a removal lid on them, so the hive had to be destroyed to  
extract the honey and wax. However, these much older hives do allow  
the honey and probably the wax to be extracted without destroying the  
hive and perhaps without killing or driving off the bees.

Perhaps another instance of technology being lost and then later  
regained, such as the Roman concrete manufacturing or some glasswork.  
Or perhaps just the same developments happening unconnected in two  
different places, with one just being carried along further.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****





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