FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ROMANIAN APICULTURE
FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ROMANIAN APICULTURE

Summary/Abstract: A fragment of fossil rock showing a hexagonal drawing that bears a striking resemblance to a honeycomb has been discovered in Buzău County, Romania, and now it is exhibited in the section of Colti commune from the Buzău County Museum. The hrisov of Suceava, issued in 1400 by Alexandru cel Bun, concludes a trade convention with the wax merchants from Pocutia (Poland), in which he allows to collect bee wax from Moldavia on condition that at Bacău’s customs they had to pay in kind a stone of wax - a piece of wax of 3.870 kg, also called camă n, payment in kind levied on wax trade in Moldavia. A 1763 statistics mentions that there were 670.000 beehives in Moldavia at that time. After 1900, R. Begnescu hosted an apiculture-training course throughout the year, each teaching cycle lasting 15 days. This was the official start of the apicultural education in Romania, and the Course of Rational Beekeeping was printed out. In 1925 Florin Begnescu established the Central Romanian Society of Apiculture at Bucharest. As mentioned, in 1930 the apicultural research started to become institutionalized and to acquire an organized framework by establishing the apiculture department within the National Romanian Zootechnics Institute. Romania uses currently systematic beehives, as more than 60.000 apiarists do, and the sold honey production increased to over 16 kg/beehive; about 2% of the rural population have beehives. In 1958, the Romanian Beekeepers’ Association joined the International Federation of the Apicultural Associations – APIMONDIA – and in 1965 in Bucharest it hosted the 20th jubilee International Congress of Apiculture and the first International Apicultural Exhibition.

• Details
• Contents