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A History of Beekeeping and the Honeybee in Contested Eastern European Landscapes: Empires of the Bee traces the material-cultural dynamics of the honeybee and beekeeping from prehistory to the present, through Kievan Rus, the Novgorod Republic, Muscovy, Imperial Russia the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Interweaving environmental, social, economic, and cultural history, this book explores the meaning and experience of beekeeping in the longue duree, to its public history in Russian museums today. Although eclipsed by momentous events and developments in Russia's history, the humble honeybee is fundamental to the history and culture of this region.
List of contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Prologue: Land, People, and the Honeybee in Prehistory
Part I: Premodern Bee-Centered Landscapes
Chapter 1: Political Economies of Wax and Honey in the Rise of Rus and Muscovy from the 8th to the 15th Centuries
Chapter 2: The Honeybee and Religiosity: The Hum of Human-Bee Interaction in Prehistory, Kievan Rus, and Muscovy
Part II: Transitions: Early Modern Muscovy and Imperial Russia
Chapter 3: Beekeeping and Early Modern Empire, 1550-1800
Chapter 4: An Imperial Russian Bee Culture, 1550-1820
Part III: Modern Imperial Russia, the Soviet Union, and Post-Soviet Russia
Chapter 5: Beekeeping and Bee Culture in the Late Empire to the Great War
Chapter 6: The Sovietization of Beekeeping: "The Most Powerful in the World"
Chapter 7: Aftermath: Bee Culture in Contemporary Public History
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
About the author
Catherine B. Clay is professor emerita at Shippenburg University.
Summary
This book traces the material–cultural dynamics of the honeybee and beekeeping from prehistory to the present in the areas that would become Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union. Beekeeping and the cultural meanings around the honeybee and its products have been fundamental to this region’s history.
