The history of honey is rooted in the depths of millennia. It is well known that wild honey was extracted 15 thousand years ago, in the early Stone Age. It is this age that is dated to the figure found in the Aran cave, near the Spanish city of Valencia. It depicts people climbing the ropes to an opening on a high rock. One of them took a honeycomb from there and put it in the basket, while around the people at that time bees fly.
The history of the origin of honey, recorded in written sources, begins 5 thousand years ago. It is about ancient Egyptian papyri, narrating about the nomadic beekeeping of local residents. In the headwaters of the Nile, the period of honey gathering was earlier, therefore at first the bees were transported to the sources of this river, the hives were set on rafts that slowly rafted down the Nile. The bees collected nectar from the plants along the banks of the river, and then returned to the rafts. Probably, beekeeping in Ancient Egypt was a very respected occupation. Suffice it to say that since 3200 BC bugs have always been painted on the flags and coat of arms of the pharaohs.
Hives, reminiscent of the modern design, appeared about 7-8 centuries BC in Ancient Greece. The Greeks first began to make partitions in them and effectively regulate the selection of excess honey. At the same time in Athens, a special law was passed, regulating that apiaries should not be located closer than 275 m from each other. The first in the history of honey scientific work dedicated to bees, we can consider the multi-volume work “Anabasis” of the Greek scientist Xenophon. Another 2,4 thousand years ago, he first described the life of a beehive, and also outlined the medicinal properties of honey. These studies continued the famous philosopher and scholar Aristotle, who himself was engaged in beekeeping.
In Ancient Rome, beekeeping was a very profitable occupation, he devoted a lot of scientific and practical monographs. In particular, in the 1st century BC, the famous writer and scientist Varro published a work in which he examined in detail the aspects of the production of hives and the treatment with honey. Beekeeping in ancient Rome was so popular that even found its place in the famous Roman law, according to which, bees that are not in the hive, were considered as abandoned wild animals.
The history of the origin of bees in Russia, most likely, has very ancient roots. However, the first written mention dates back to 945 year. According to the Laurentian Chronicle, this year Princess Olga ordered the Drevlyans to weld as much as possible hoped honey for the funeral of the murdered prince Igor, which was part of her insidious revenge plan for this tribe. Until the Petrine times honey was the main sweet product in Russia and Ukraine. With the invention of the method of obtaining refined sugar from sugar beets and reeds, honey has lost its monopoly among sweet foods. Today, honey is more a wonderful remedy and a delicacy, rather than an everyday food.