Bee-keeping

Abstract

Bee-keeping (Greek: μελισσοκομία / μελισσουργία / σμηνουργία; Latin: apicultura) in the ancient Mediterranean world refers to the deliberate cultivation and management of honeybees in human-made structures, a practice deeply embedded in myth, agriculture, and commerce. Traditionally credited to the mythic figure Aristaeus-guided by the Nymphs-bee-keeping was known from at least the Classical period as both an art and a science. Literary sources, including Aristotle, Virgil, Columella, and Pliny the Elder, alongside archaeological finds of ceramic hives from the Iberian Peninsula, Greece, and the Levant, reveal a rich body of knowledge about ancient apiary practices, hive technologies, bee health management, and the commercial as well as subsistence aspects of honey and wax production. While the technical limitations of ancient hives shaped how bee-keepers observed and treated bee diseases, recent archaeological discoveries-such as the industrial-scale apiary at Tel Rehov-have expanded our understanding of the scale and sophistication of bee-keeping in antiquity. This entry surveys the mythic origins, veterinary practices, material culture, and evolving economic roles of bee-keeping across the ancient Mediterranean world.