Beekeeping and Honey Throughout History - Honeybee: Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper - page 58

EGYPT
•TheancientEgyptianswerethefirstknownorganizedbeekeepers.Thehoneybeewas
the symbol of Lower Egypt, and keeping bees was a part of everyday life there. The
Egyptianshadsophisticatedknowledgeregardingbees.Carvingsontemplewallstell
stories of harvesting honey from trees and rocks. The Egyptians were also the first
migratory beekeepers. They would place their beehives on boats and float them up
and down the Nile to pollinate the crops along the river.
•Propolis,beeswax,andpollenplayedimportantrolesinhealth,inthecreationofvari-
ous medicines, and in the embalming process. Honey was found in clay pots inside
the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs, who were thought to consume it in the after-
life.Mummifiedbodieshavebeenperfectlypreservedafterhavingbeencoveredwith
honey, beeswax, and propolis.
• Actual Egyptian medical texts, specifically the Edwin Smith Papyrus and the Ebers
Papyrus,bothdatingfrom1550BC,recognizehoneyforitstopicalhealingproperties
for wounds, sores, and skin ulcers. These papyri mention honey as an ingredient in
at least nine hundred remedies. Egyptian doctors customarily prescribed honey and
milk for the treatment of respiratory ailments and throat irritations.
CHINA
• Beekeeping has been documented as being practiced in China more than three thou-
sand years ago. Oracle inscriptions from the Shang dynasty of the eleventh century
BCshowbeesswarming.KingZhouWu,thefirstruleroftheChineseZhoudynasty,
led his army with a bee flag. He reigned from 1046 BC to 1043 BC.
• Since at least the second century BC, bees have been used in Chinese medicine, in-
cluding through a technique often called bee acupuncture. During the Ming dynasty
(1368-1644), pharmacist Li Shizen practiced traditional Chinese medicine in the
Hubei province of China and used it for enhancing yin, or cold energy. Li Shizen
wroteinthe Compendium of Materia Medica ,“Therearefivemedicatedfunctionsof
honey: dispersing heat, supplementing the internal organs, detoxifying, moistening
dryness, and relieving pain.”
• Another Chinese medical text, Materia Medica of Shen Nong, written around 50 BC,
says that honey has the ability “to pacify the deficiencies of the five internal organs,
[honey] benefits the vital energy and supplements the internal organs; it also relieves
pain, detoxifies, treats numerous illnesses and counterpoises hundreds of herbs.”