Arab and Dutch beekeeping

This video from the USA is called EVERYTHING you have EVER WANTED to KNOW about HONEYBEES.

On 10 July 2013, there will be a lecture in the botanical garden in Leiden in the Netherlands about beekeeping.

Fred Weber, beekeeper of the botanical garden, will then compare the Arabic manuscript of historian Al-Maqrizi (1364-1442) from Egypt, with the book, published 200 years later, by Dutchman Dirck Cluyt (1546-1598) on beekeeping.

From the article Muslim Historians:

Another work of al-Maqrizi deals with bees. The date of composition and the purpose of the book are not known. The title is Kitab Nahl ‘Ibar an-Nahl (Book of the Present from the Examples of the Bee).

He first speaks of the nature and habits of bees and then, true to his prepossessions as a follower of Ibn Khaldun, goes on to speak of the important products, honey-“the noblest of foods” and wax, which is derived from them. At the close his overriding historical interest is shown in accounts of famous occasions, at the court of Mas’ud or Mahmud of Ghazna, at the marriage of a daughter of Khumarawayh of Egypt to the Caliph al-Mutadid, etc., when great numbers of wax-candles were used. This whole section raises the question of illumination in public and private in Islam.

Related articles

• Beekeeping: How sweet it is (wiscnews.com)
• Beekeepers Assn turns 100 (radionz.co.nz)
• Where’s the buzz? N.J. crops affected by decline in honey bee population (nj.com)
• You have no idea how much we rely on honeybees and how much their collapse could cost us (business.financialpost.com)
• Where Have All the Bees Gone? (And What Does It Mean for Our Food?) (greatist.com)
• 37 Million Bees Found Dead in Elmwood Canada (realfarmacy.com)
• Ecosystem crisis: Bees dying by the millions in Canada – cause unknown (theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com)
• Canada : Local beekeepers in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees. (theboldcorsicanflame.wordpress.com)