Honey hunting – is a forest craft of wild honey gathering that for a thousand years of history was not simply by getting food, but also part of the nonmaterial cultural heritage of Polissia. Today, traditional wild honey harvesting in Europe has survived only in some regions of Ukrainian and Belarusian Polissia, but every year the number of people engaged in this craft is decreasing. Among the main factors influencing the decline of wild honey hunting should be noted: new methods of industrial production of honey, deforestation, environmental degradation and rapid urbanization.
Experiences of Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Germany show up the positive tendency to revive and popularize Honey Harvesting, even under conditions when it was lost in these territories.
Beekeeping has not only been restored from the ground up, but its popularity is growing rapidly every year.
These changes to be believed lead to a growing number of wild bee keepers and territories where they are able to keep practicing, festivals and fairs related to this trade.
- This craft is an excellent example of sustainable use of natural resources (use of natural resources to meet the needs and conservation of the crafts for future generations);
- Bee keepers (people involved into traditional beekeeping) are the bearers of the cultural heritage of Europe. Beekeeping has been evolved through hundreds of generations and is an important element of the ethnography of our continent;
- The bees are the natural pollinators. They catalyze forest flora restoration processes and accelerate their growth.
Beremytske Biosphere Charitable Organization in cooperation with the Public Association “Beekeepers of Ukraine” aims to gradually revive traditional bee-keeping in the Nature Park Beremytske.
- At the first stage it is planned to equip eco-trails dedicated to wild honey harvesting and related traditions;
- At the second stage, it is planned to conduct expeditions to Chernihiv Polissia to collect information and features about wild honey harvesting in the region;
- At the third stage, based on the results of the expedition, experience of beekeepers of central Polissia and ethnographic materials from museum institutions of Ukraine, it is planned to organize a skansen museum named “Wild Beekeeper’s House”. This museum will not only give an opportunity to visitors to get acquainted with wild honey harvesting, but also with the architectural features of Chernihiv region and our ancestors’ lifestyle;
- The fourth stage of the project should involve building of cultural residence for wild beekeepers and related trades (herbalism, woodwork, weaving, etc.), holding fairs, workshops, other activities;
Wild beekeeping popularization is going to be expected after the project implementation. Thus, it will contribute to forest beekeepers hereditary maintenance, emergence of new generations involved into the forest beekeeping and ethno cultural heritage preservation.
Since this project is being reviewed as quite ambitious, there are many options for successful cooperation at any stage where your assistances can be varied. We will be grateful for either financial support of the project or some help as hanging issues and taking care of them. We would also appreciate your support both collecting museum exhibits and fairs maintenance, as well as giving a hand of help in writing grant applications and searching for grant programs, to study the Polissiia forest bee species.
We will preserve the culture and traditions of our ancestors
for future generations!
JOINED THE PROJECT:
