Traditional migratory beekeeping in Greece, 18th – mid 20th century

Abstract

In the Greek territory, the seasonal transfer of hives to new “pastures” was known already since antiquity. From the 18th until the 20th century, migratory beekeeping with traditional hives was practiced in many areas of the eastern Greek mainland and on several Aegean islands. This practice was carried out for the following reasons: a) to achieve greater production of bee products, especially honey; and b) for the bee colonies to spend the winter in regions where they would be able to offer a notable production in the following beekeeping season. The ordinary tools used in northern and central Greece as well as on the islands of the northern and central Aegean were upright hives, especially skeps. In the south, migratory beekeeping was mainly practiced with top-bar movable-comb hives and with several types of horizontal hives. Hive transportation took place in the night, usually on pack animals, carriages and boats; in many cases by the beekeeper himself. Migratory beekeeping was well developed on Thasos Island and in the Chalkidiki Peninsula, in both cases with exceptional results. Attica, Boeotia, Euboea, and western Crete were also areas of intense migratory beekeeping.

Keywords:

• Migratory beekeeping
• traditional beekeeping
• Greek beekeeping
• wicker hives
• ceramic hives

Acknowledgements

We are deeply grateful to the beekeepers who provided us with valuable information: Asterios and Theodoulos Giouvannakis (Gomati, in Chalkidiki), Christos Toskas and Konstantina Kollia-Toska (Agios Dimitrios, in Argolis), Christos Belezis (Arahnaio, in Argolis), Manolis Zymvragoudakis (Chania, Crete), and Panagiotis Maroulis (Amorgos, Cyclades). For the photo credits, we thank Dimitrios Kyrou, the publisher of Arnaia (Supplement Figures S2, S3); Eirini Pappa, the publisher of Melissokomiki Epitheorisi (Supplement Figure S10, S11); the Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Athens (Supplement Figures S7, S13, S19: archived photographs of the late Thanassis Bikos); and Vardis Sellianakis, agriculturist (Supplement Figure S17).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.