A HISTORY OF BEEHIVES

Many of us might understand the beehive – white-painted, triangle-roofed, deposited perhaps underneath a tree – to be a symbol of an agrarian Arcadia. Yet Aladin Borioli’s Hives shows that the history of beehive design is more complex than might be imagined.

Apian is a research project headed up by Aladin Borioli that often collaborates with artists and scholars such as Ellen Lapper with whom he worked extensively for the Hives book. It uses theoretical, iconographic and ethnographic methods drawn from social anthropology to examine the relationship between human beings and bees. The modern beehive was patented in 1852, and has remained largely unchanged since. For 4,400 years before then however, bees lived in houses of great architectural diversity. This book traces the history of the hive back to 2,400 BCE, showing that reversing the trend towards agricultural monoculture might also be understood as an aesthetic project. Bees, key labourers in the maintenance of biodiversity, might well be able to show us how to live differently. ◉

“Keep up with the times! The best guarantee for success is our ‘Triumph Lichtstock’. The most modern beehive of the present-day with valuable practical improvements. (Ask for our latest brochure.) Beehive for all types of two-colony and transhumance operations with the new patented insulated front. Unrivalled for its warmth. Beehives, unsurpassed by their clean and exact execution, pleasing in appearance following the latest design. Rotting of the walls impossible. All practical bee-keeping equipment in immaculate condition. (Catalogue free of charge on request.) Schweizerische Bienenkasten und Bienenhäuserfabrik, Winikon (Lucerne, Switzerland). Source: Der Imkerfreund: Schweizerische Monatsschrift zur Belehrung und Beratung, Booklet 1 (March 1933)

All images from Apian (Aladin Borioli and Ellen Lapper), Hives 2400 B.C.E.–1852 C.E., RVB Books, 2022