Travel to Kiev, and just on the outskirts of the city there is a museum named after Ukrainian born Petro Prokopovych (1775-1850). This local bee keeper became one of the first to invest bee hives with movable frames, allowing the the honeycomb to be manipulated and the honey to be harvested with only minor disruption to the resident bee colony. Now, this may not seem much of an advance in bee husbandry to those unaware of the problems and subtleties when it comes to collecting honey, but what Prokopovych achieved made a huge impact, and brought about the development of the commercial production of honey.
This invention is still used today by millions of beekeepers all over the world. Prokopvych went on to become a teacher, and taught more than 700 qualified beekeepers, and published articles on his research and actually dedicated his life to the promotion and art of beekeeping, reminding people that this was also one of the most profitable branches of agriculture. He had 6,600 beehives of his own design and became a very rich man from his bees; now modern Ukraine is among the world's top ten producers of honey and can boast 500 thousand beekeepers, that collect up to 70 thousand tons of honey annually.
Honey Pollen
The museum is a delight not only for those who love bees, but it is also fascinating for lovers of primitive art, as many of the external 'beehive' exhibits which are displayed in the large gardens show both delightful carving skills and great flair with paint and brushes. There are tree hives designed to deter bears from stealing the honey, hives which look like large sculpted faces with the mouth open acting as the front door entrance for the bee colony. Alongside the wacky, wonderful and unique hive designs there is a serious exhibition of ancient artefacts used in the honey gathering process. An old shell casing has been turned into a smoke 'blower'; there are hives made from logs, and interestingly they have a special section dedicated to venom collection.
Here they have a device which is powered by a car battery, wired with two terminals. This is placed in the hive, and the bees are given enough of an electric shock to cause them to sting the glass inserted, and later the venom is scraped off and used for experiments. They have found bee venom to be highly toxic, and the vapours from it will not only affect the eyes, but if one breathes in the vapours it's also very dangerous.
You can buy bee products at the museum, so you can return to any of the rented Kiev apartments to dine on a delicious toast and honey based afternoon tea, and at the same time contemplate the quite marvellous life led by bees and the healthy harvest they produce just for our consumption.
There is currently however a worry that honey bees worldwide are in great danger of dying off, due in the main to the widespread use of chemicals applied to seeds. These chemicals travel through the plant and leave a residue which eventually contaminates the pollen, resulting in death, paralysis or disorientation in bees. The chemical is mainly applied to oil seed rape and sunflower seeds, and both the French and Germans have since banned its use after they identified 'mad bee disease '.
There may well be bees buzzing around your Kiev Hotels or at the many excellent accommodations in Kiev, as thankfully, good quality honey is still to be had in the city, with many experts rating the honey produced in the area as being some of the best in the world. Here in the Ukraine the nectar is not only used as a sweetener, it's a key ingredient in medicines and homeopathic treatments.
The Museum is based at Zhelinskogo 4, and is open from 10.00 -18.00 (closed Saturday and Sunday).