Log booty

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Log prey in Portugal

A block spoils or Klotzstülper is an artificial, man-made bee dwelling consisting of a hollowed tree trunk is. Block hives are among the oldest man-made and transportable bee dwellings. They represent a stage of development in the Zeidlerei and mark the transition to regular beekeeping, beekeeping . Today they can only be found in Asia .

development

Log prey in Poland
Log prey in the form of a bear in the garden of the Badische Beekeeping School in Heidelberg

By nature, the European bee races of the Western honey bee species need winter and weatherproof housing to survive. A nesting box with a size of around 60 liters is suitable for this, which is dry all year round, protects from rain and snow and is sheltered from the wind. Originally the bees lived wild in naturally occurring tree hollows in the forest. In the early days, the Zeidlers began to saw the relevant tree hollows and bees out of the tree trunks and set them up at more favorable locations. With the beginning of the increasing systematic beekeeping , log hives were specially made from tree trunks. For this purpose, suitable tree trunks were hollowed out lengthways with tools down to a wall thickness of a few centimeters. One or more flight holes were cut into the resulting tube. Inside the tube, several wooden sticks were usually placed across to make it easier for the bees to build the honeycomb . These log hives were placed on a level surface and covered with a board. In some regions of Europe the log hives were also set up lying down. A captured swarm of bees was lodged in these hives. The earliest archaeological evidence of log loot comes from the early Neolithic pile-dwelling settlement Arbon-Bleiche III around 3380 BC. In a late Bronze Age loot from Berlin-Lichterfelde around 1080 BC. A two-part interior could be proven. On a grate made of twigs in the upper third of the hive, the people could build the brood combs and above it on the lid the honeycombs . This suggests a relatively modern mode of operation, in which the honeycomb could be removed by simply lifting the lid and the brood nest did not have to be touched.

The mode of operation with log hives and log pullers was particularly widespread in wooded regions, whereas in less wooded areas puller pullers or plaited straw baskets , as in heather beekeeping , dominated.

In ancient times , clay pipes were also used as a home for bees in the Mediterranean area; in Africa this is still happening today.

In many Asian countries , beekeepers still keep the Eastern honeybees in log hives or inverted logs.

Special forms

Block hives and on the right a wayside shrine in Poland
Wooden figure hives from Fördergersdorf in the Museum of Saxon Folk Art in Dresden , around 1885

Special types and forms of bee housing made of different materials developed everywhere . In Carinthia they were called "Kärntner Bauernstock" and " Krainer Bauernstock ".

As shrines , bees shrines , figure sticks , figural hives , figure booties or figure hives log hives is known of logs which are richly carved and painted. In their exterior they are more like carved wooden statues than a bee dwelling.

There are significant exhibits of this type. a. in the following collections:

disadvantage

The disadvantage of log hives is that honey can only be harvested by cutting out part of the honeycomb structure of the bees and thus destroying them. As a result, the bee colony is also permanently damaged and weakened. Because of the honeycomb structure firmly attached to the hive, the type of honeycomb is known as a stable structure. With the development of mobile construction, that is, the keeping of bees on mobile honeycomb frames , as can be found today in magazine hives, the hive systems in figure hives have also been modernized. This is shown in a picture of the 'Apostle' loot from the so-called twelve apostles stand. Here the beekeeper takes a honeycomb frame from the apiary on the front of the figure. Today, figure hives are more and more often the inspiration for the protection of bees. The modern hive systems of some figure hives serve more the purpose of a species-appropriate beekeeping than the honey harvest.

History of the figure hives

The oldest figure hives have come down to us from the 17th century. One of the main reasons why humans portrayed bees in their stomachs is that they want to incorporate the wisdom of the bee colony. In order to emphasize the fertility of the bees figuratively, the entrance holes were often located in the genital area. Originally, figure hives were set up to protect the beekeeper's grove. You should protect the beehive from honey robbers. The figures still preserved today show a great variety in terms of the technique of design and the choice of motifs. In most of the figures, the arms as well as the booty area are attached. The heads are sometimes carved out in a round shape. Attributes such as flax hair and glass eyes enhanced the effect. Basically, 4 categories or main types can be identified in the figurative representations:

  • Figures from the religious or domestic sphere (for example St. Ambrosius or a peasant woman)
  • Exotic representations
  • Figure booty with a military-warlike background (e.g. the red hussar).

In addition, the life-size figures were used to decorate the bee garden and, in part, to represent the beekeeper. We can assume a certain pride that the beekeeping guild brought with it, because it elicits the sweetest thing from the very defensive insect of bees: honey. Today, in the course of a reassessment of the bee, and in recognition of its extraordinary importance for the continuation of all life, the figural hives are also experiencing a kind of renaissance.

Figure booty today

The figural loot Marilyn Monroe, by the figural loot carver Birgit Maria Jönsson

Figure booty can be seen as folk art . A return to this tradition has been evident since the 20th century; some associations and institutions set them up. In addition to traditional depictions, there are figural hives related to beekeeping (e.g. bears, depictions of beekeepers and Saint Ambrose as the patron saint of beekeepers) and those depicting historical personalities, e.g. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Luise Rückert or Duchess Eléonore.

literature

  • Ludwig Armbruster : The apiary as an ethnological monument "and" The old beekeeping of the Alps " as well as further articles in the" Archive for apiculture ". Neumünster, later Berlin.
  • Ulrich Berner: The old beekeeping in East Germany and its ethnological and tribal bases. Marburg / Lahn 1954.
  • Eva Crane : The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting. Duckworth, London 2000. ISBN 0-7156-2827-5 (in English)
  • Eva Crane: The archeology of beekeeping. Duckworth, London 1983. ISBN 0-7156-1681-1 (in English)
  • Hermann Geffcken, Monika Herb, Marian Jelinski and Irmgard Jung-Hoffman (eds.): Bees trees, figurines and banishing baskets . Funding group d. natural science Museums in Berlin, Berlin 1993. ISBN 3-926579-03-X .
  • Agricultural and open-air museum Schloß Blankenhain (ed.): Figurbeuten , Blankenhainer reports, Volume 2, printing works zu Altenburg 1997.
  • Matthias Lehnherr, Hans-Ulrich Thomas: Der Schweizerische Bienenvater , Vol. 5 "Natural and cultural history of the honeybee." 17th, new edition, VDRB specialist publisher, Winikon 2001. ISBN 3-9522157-4-0 .
  • Jerzy Zak, Maciej Raysiewicz: Ule i pasieki w Polsce; Hives and apiaries in Poland. “No place”, “no year”. ISBN 83-910477-2-5 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Klotzbeute  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: Loot of figures  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Annik De Capitani, Sabine Deschler-Erb, Urs Leuzinger, Elisabeth Marti-Grädel, Jörg Sibler: The Neolithic lakeside settlement Arbon Bleiche 3, finds. Department of Education and Culture of the Canton of Thurgau, 2002. pp. 112–113
  2. ↑ Herbert Lehmann: A three-thousand-year-old Klotzstülper from Berlin-Lichterfelde: a contribution to the history of beekeeping. In: Berlin sheets for prehistory and early history. 11 1965. pp. 45-98
  3. ↑ Hermann Geffcken, Monika Herb, Marian Jelinski and Irmgard Jung-Hoffman (eds.): Bees trees, figure sticks and ban baskets . Funding group d. natural science Museums Berlins, Berlin 1993. ISBN 3-926579-03-X Fig. 61
  4. ↑ Hermann Geffcken, Monika Herb, Marian Jelinski and Irmgard Jung-Hoffman (eds.): Bees trees, figure sticks and ban baskets . Funding group d. natural science Museums Berlins, Berlin 1993. ISBN 3-926579-03-X , pp. 85–97, fig. 60
  5. ^ Mathias Lehnsherr, Hans-Ulrich Thomas: Der Schweizerische Bienenvater , Vol. 5 "Natural and cultural history of the honeybee." 17th, new edition, VDRB specialist publisher, Winikon 2001. ISBN 3-9522157-4-0 , p. 51 .
  6. ↑ Monika Herb: Agricultural and open-air museum Schloß Blankenhain (ed.): Figurbeuten , Blankenhainer reports, Volume 2, Druckerei zu Altenburg 1997, p. 71/72