The Keeper of the Bees: Bees and Beekeeping in Irish Folklore [Hardcover]

Did you know that bees have been around for over 100 million years? Or that the Brehon Laws included judgments about the rightful ownership of swarms? And why Irish beekeepers plant bluebells around their hives?From the perfection of their hexagonal honeycombs to their ordered matriarchal society, bees have been revered for thousands of years.In this beautifully illustrated book, beekeepers daughter and student of folklore Eimear Chaomh?nach weaves folktales about bees with memories of growing up in a beekeeping household, collecting swarms with her father and learning how to harvest honey.With legends about Aristotle and Irish saints and accounts of customs such as telling the bees, this is a fascinating look at the beliefs and traditions about bees and beekeeping.A beekeepers daughter and a student of folklore, Eimear Chaomh?nach weaves folktales about bees with memories of growing up in a beekeeping household, collecting swarms with her father and learning how to harvest honey. A fascinating look at the beliefs and traditions about bees and beekeeping.List of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter One: The Work of the HoneybeeChapter Two: The Arrival of the Honeybee into IrelandChapter Three: The Divinity of the HoneybeeChapter Four: Saint Gobnait, Patroness of the BeesChapter Five: A Homage to HoneyChapter Six: Beeswax and HoneycombChapter Seven: Aristotle and the BeesChapter Eight: Telling the BeesChapter Nine: Ringing a SwarmChapter Ten: Bees as Omens of Luck and MisfortuneEpilogueBibliographyIE