Beekeeping Crafts

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During the Middle Ages, beekeeping was distinguished by how the honey was obtained, as either forest or domestic.
The domestic beekeeper kept bees in hollow trees or in straw skeps (wickerwork hives) and were not subject to any regulation. Conversely, the forest beekeeper, called ‘brtník’, kept hives ‘in the wild’ in hollowed-out trees. The forest beekeepers formed a fellowship similar to a guild and paid a fee to the owners of the woodland for each hive they managed.
Beeswax was the main raw material for the production of candles up until the discovery of artificial wax (paraffin wax). Honey was used as a sweetener, and fermented to make mead.

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