Beekeeping (or
apiculture, from
Latin:
apis "
bee") is the maintenance of
honey bee colonies, commonly in
hives, by humans. A
beekeeper(or apiarist) keeps bees in order to collect their
honey and other products that the hive produces (including
beeswax,
propolis,
pollen, and
royal jelly), to
pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers. A location where bees are kept is called an
apiary or "bee yard".
Depictions of humans collecting honey from wild bees date to 15,000 years ago; efforts to domesticate them are shown in Egyptian art around 4,500 years ago. Simple hives and smoke were used and honey was stored in jars, some of which were found in the tombs of
pharaohs such as
Tutankhamun. It wasn’t until the 18th century that European understanding of the colonies and biology of bees allowed the construction of the moveable comb hive so that honey could be harvested without destroying the entire colony.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeekeepingThese images were taken in September 2013 at the Johnson County Community College with a beginning beekeeper class.
