Beekeeping history

There's a cave painting in Spain, 8,000 years old, of someone climbing a cliff to raid a bee nest. The history of honey starts there - and it doesn't get simpler.

For most of human history, harvesting honey meant killing the colony. Then one design changed everything. A look at how beehive technology evolved - and where it stands today.

Acarapis woodi lives inside a bee's breathing tubes. It devastated British colonies in 1906 and American ones in 1984. Then Varroa arrived and everyone forgot.

From 8,000-year-old Spanish cave paintings to Ethiopian bamboo hives to Russian forest bee trees. Humans have stolen honey longer than they've been farming.

In 1851, Langstroth measured the gap bees leave between surfaces: 5/16 to 3/8 inch. That measurement made every frame removable and modern beekeeping possible.

English colonists brought honey bees to Virginia in 1622. Four centuries later, the US loses 30-45% of colonies yearly. The story between those points is wild.

From 1800s wire-mesh face veils to modern ventilated suits. The gear has changed more in 20 years than in the previous century, and the price range reflects it.