Experiments with an old ceramic beehive

Abstract

Ceramic beehives are frequently identified on archaeological sites in Greece and occur in large numbers. Their existence is at odds with the accounts of Roman authors, who disdain the use of clay for beekeeping and praise materials like wicker and wood, which have left no archaeological traces. The reason for the rejection of terracotta hives is unanimously that they are too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, but temperature experiments with a nineteenth century ceramic beehive in Greece proved them to be within the norms experienced by bees. The results of this research thus indicate different traditions of beekeeping in Roman Greece and Italy and seek to explain why these may have developed. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.