Okay, obviously not very many people who are talking about
Minlister or beekeeping know anything about it except maybe Loren.
- Until very recently (like, the 20th century), a hive was
DESTROYED when you harvested the honey. Think of the classic
"beehive" shape -- the domed rope or wicker structure, or the mud
constructions used in Africa. These hives are made for one-time use
- -- like a piggy bank. When you know that the bees have harvested
enough, you chop open the hive, and take all the honey.
This doesn't mean that old-time beekeepers were stupider
than we -- the wicker hives were cheap to make and easy to destroy
- -- disposable objects. The death of the swarms is no big deal -- you
can get new swarms next spring (you don't kill _all_ your hives,
you know). It's no different from killing a cow in order to get
beef, instead of "harvesting" it a leg at a time.
Anyway, the bees are killed when you harvest the honey. The queen
is killed, all the grubs are killed, the workers are killed. It's
just not possible for a beekeeper to take an oath never to harm a
bee, any more than a cowboy could take an oath never to harm a cow.
Even if we anachronistically gave our ancients modern-type
hives, they still could not take the aforementioned oath, because
bees are killed when the honey is harvested anyway (just not as
many), also they are killed when the wax is taken, and sometimes a
beekeeper needs to exterminate a whole hive if its infested with
mites or waxworms or something, lest it spread.
Sandy p