Keeping a Sweet Tradition Alive

Beekeepers in Russia’s Bashkirian Republic are saving the Burzyan honeybee and the ancient tradition of keeping wild bees.

Sagit Galin, 69, saddles up his chestnut mare, strapping a long, braided leather rope and small wooden vat to the horn.  He calls to his son, Sabit, 35, who is readying a horse in the next stall.  Together, the two Bashkirians, descendents of semi-nomadic keepers of wild bees, lead the horses out of the small barnyard encircling their log home.

They gallop out of the village and through a rolling meadow flowering with fireweed, angelica, and buttercup.  Soon they disappear into the surrounding woods, which extend up the gentle slopes of the ancient Urals.  Securing their horses beneath a towering pine tree, Sabit hangs a jumble of handmade tools over his shoulder and from his waist.  He throws a braided rope around the massive tree, slightly above his head, catching it with his free hand, and pulls himself up. He grabs a foothold in a subtle notch in the tree’s trunk.  He releases the rope and quickly snaps it around the tree higher still. With the swiftness of a startled bear cub, he scales the tree in seconds. Sending the rope around the tree one last time—just below his feet—he attaches a narrow wooden footrest. Now supported by a sturdy platform 30 feet above ground, he turns to tend his wild bees.

Sabit learned the art of keeping wild bees from his father, who learned it from his father. Wild beekeeping has endured for nearly 1000 years in these remote forests of the southern Ural Mountains—passing from father to son. Wild beekeeping in Bashkiria was at its peak in the 18th century, but the art was nearly lost by the middle of the 20th century. Exiled and purged by Stalin in 1936, killed on the front lines during World War II, and enticed to leave forest villages for more promising livelihoods in burgeoning cities in the 1970s, few beekeepers remained in Bashkiria to carry on the tradition.

Survival of the distinct population of wild honeybee the Bashkirians depended on for their honey was also problematic. The Burzyan honeybee, found only in Bashkiria, is known for its resistance to disease, its uncanny ability to survive in cold climates, and its extreme proficiency in gathering large amounts of nectar from the linden tree, which blooms for only three weeks in July. Sweet linden honey is prized all over the world, and Bashkiria harbors 36 per cent of all linden forests in Russia.

Like the Bashkirian beekeepers, the wild bees came under fire in the 20th century. The large trees the bees require for their nests fell to make way for agricultural fields and development. Other, less resilient subspecies of honeybees from the Carpathian and Caucasian Mountains were introduced to the region, causing the bees to hybridize. Weakened populations began to die out. Thus, the future of the honeybee and the wild beekeeping tradition were at stake.

In 1958, Russian scientists created a protected area at the core of the bee’s natural range to save the distinct population of Burzyan honeybees. Originally a division of the Baskhiria Zapovednik (strict nature reserve), the protected area was reorganized in 1986 as the Shulgan Tash Zapovednik to preserve the last remaining habitat of purebred populations of Burzyan honeybees.

Just saving the bees was not enough for Mikhail Kosarev, however, now Director of Shulgan Tash Zapovednik. Kosarev sought to save the local tradition as well. Kosarev knew that Burzyan honeybees occupy natural cavities in trees but are readily attracted to dens carved out by experienced beekeepers. By maintaining artificial hives in the forest, more families of bees could be supported within the protected bounds of the nature reserve. Yet, creation of a federally-run, strictly protected nature reserve limits the types of activities permitted within its boundaries. Consequently, many beekeepers were precluded from tending the specific trees their forefathers cultivated.

To preserve ancient tradition and win the support of the local community, Kosarev created a new position in the reserve: ranger-beekeeper. He hired 12 ranger-beekeepers, all descendants of Bashkirian keepers of wild bees, to tend bee trees in the reserve and to protect the forests and its inhabitants from poachers and other intruders. Sabit Galin is one of the reserve’s ranger-beekeepers and cares for the same trees that his family harvested for centuries. Today, because they are within the nature reserve, the trees are granted protection in perpetuity from loggers and developers. Since good bee trees take centuries to mature, Kosarev says that drawing on local experience and resources was crucial for saving both the bees and the tradition.

Climbing down from the tree with a vat full of golden honeycomb, Sabit Galin describes how his great-grandfather must have picked out this pine tree for his progeny nearly 100 years ago. He would have selected a tree that was 150 to 200 years old, making sure that sufficient flowering plants and fresh water were nearby. Next he lopped off the crown of the tree 15 feet from the top and capped it with a flat stone, forcing it to grow in circumference rather than height. After carving the family’s insignia into the trunk to lay unofficial claim to the future bee tree, he opened up a clearing to let in the light.

Seventy years passed and the pine tree grew broad enough to house a beehive. That is when Sabit’s father carved out a hollow cavity high up in the tree, using traditional instruments that have remained virtually unchanged for 1000 years. He made the den nearly three feet high and a foot wide, smoothing out the inside with a sharp blade. He carved a small entry hole for the bees on one side and a removable door on the other to allow access to the hive and its honey. He rubbed the inside of the den with grasses to give it a natural smell, and hung lattices of honeycomb to attract wild bees.

Evidently, the Galin dynasty has a knack for attracting bees, because over the years wild bees have occupied all of their more than 30 trees at one time or another. When Sagit became too old to scale the trees himself, he passed the trade on to his son. Now Sabit cares for the bees, while readying new trees for his own sons and grandsons.  The Galins are grateful that their trees are now protected in the reserve. Logging and roads would have surely destroyed them by now.

To save the Burzyan bee and beekeeping tradition, more is needed than simply protecting the land where the trees are located. Today, the Zapovednik is taking proactive measures to shape the future. The reserve’s head ranger-beekeeper, Fidrat Yumaguzhin, is dedicated to preserving the genetic integrity of the hardy Burzyan honeybee. His research and breeding efforts are helping the Burzyan bee regain its foothold in the region and resettle its former range.

With encouragement from Yumaguzhin and the Shulgan Tash Zapovednik, the Republic of Bashkiria passed a law in 1995 prohibiting the import of other strains of bees. Yumaguzhin provides local people with Burzyan bee “starter kits”—a queen bee laden with eggs and a few of her workers. By encouraging local beekeepers to use the hardy Burzyan bee to make honey, the population of Burzyan bees in the region is increasing and its range is expanding. This approach keeps locals from using other strains of bees, which can hybridize with Burzyan bees and weaken the population. In addition, some bees kept by locals will inevitably escape and move to the dens in trees maintained by the reserve or to natural dens to help boost the wild bee population.

Thanks to the efforts of the Shulgan Tash Zapovednik and generations of keepers of wild bees, people now understand the importance of saving the Burzyan honeybee. They value these bees, which are more resistant to disease and pests than domestic bees, and which produce award-winning honey. The reserve’s honey has won gold medals at international beekeeping exhibitions in France, Germany, and Russia. Preservation of these hardy and proficient bees and their forest habitat is in turn saving the ancient tradition of wild beekeeping in Bashkiria. Hard work and courage are needed to tend wild bees. These two traits, always valued in Bashkirian culture, are now paying off for the bees and their keepers. RL