Innovation No. 53 of 77 in the book
Managed Beekeeping
Clay hives moved along the Nile to follow flowers
- When
- c. 2400 BCE
- Dynasty
- 5th Dynasty
- Era
- Old Kingdom
Egypt kept bees in built hives — and moved them to follow the blossom — by around 2400 BCE, in the Old Kingdom. A sun-temple relief shows the whole operation.
Beekeepers stacked long horizontal tubes of clay as artificial hives, smoked the bees to calm them, and drew out the honeycomb, just as some traditional keepers still do.
They even loaded hives onto boats and floated them up the Nile so the bees could feed on flowers coming into bloom region by region — migratory beekeeping, 4,400 years ago.
Managed beekeeping, hives and all, was first practiced in Egypt.
The oldest known depiction is carved into the limestone walls of the Fifth Dynasty sun temple of Nyuserre Ini at Abu Gorab, around 2450 BCE. The reliefs run through the whole operation in sequence: workers blowing smoke to settle the hives, cutting out honeycomb, and packing the refined honey into storage jars. It is the earliest visual proof anywhere of beekeeping as managed work rather than wild honey gathering.
Frequently Asked Questions
What were the hives made of?
Dried Nile mud and clay, shaped into long horizontal cylinders and stacked in rows. The design is modular, so a keeper could reach the combs from either end without dismantling the stack.
How did they harvest without destroying the colony?
With smoke. Pottery incense burners were used to blow cool smoke into the hive, which settles the bees long enough to take the comb. Beekeepers still do exactly this.