When we think of Thanksgiving the first image that comes to mind is that of the Pilgrims. They were the first settlers of America who were fleeing wars, poverty, land laws and religious persecution from Europe. What many people however don't know is that the Pilgrims didn't arrive alone. They brought honey bees with them.
     The reason they brought honey bees is that they also brought many native European plants to help them colonize the "new world". The early settlers knew that honeybees were the main source of pollination for many of these plants, and they also knew that without the honeybees the plants would not survive to give them a harvest- and a failed harvest would mean no new seeds for them to begin the cycle again.
     The interesting thing to note is that there were no native honey bees in North America when the first settlers arrived. Every bee you now see on your lawn came from these first bees and new strains of bees were only added at a much later date.
     The settlers used a device to transport and house bees that is much different than the beehive we associate with beekeeping today. The device was called a skep.  This vessel was very limited in the way one could manage a colony of bees and the settler’s beekeeping skills at the time reflected that. For the Pilgrims to harvest honey from the skep they were forced to kill off the entire population. They then relied on new swarms to replenish these hives, and the cycle would begin again. This process was maintained for several hundred years before a new vision would come along to replace it.

   Two different sized straw skeps.

     The invention that changed it all was that of the moveable frame hive, or Langstroth hive. This hive was so named because its inventor, Reverend L.L. Langstroth, would have a moment of clarity and discover "bee space". Bee space is approximately 3/8's of an inch. This is the amount of space bees need to move freely between their honey comb. If too little space the bees produce propolis, or bee glue. If too much, they produce burr comb, or irregular shaped honey comb. With this discovery he produced the first "modern hive" which is the box that most people imagine when thinking of beekeeping, and the era of modern beekeeping was born.

   Our modern beehive.

     Further advancing beekeeping was the invention of the smoker. With this device bees could be calmed to be worked more effectively. Before this contained fire box was introduced beekeepers were forced to use hand held smoke makers, and other make shift devices, making it very difficult to work bees in a safe and orderly manner.

    Stainless steel bee smoker.

     Another breakthrough would be foundation. Foundation is a pressed sheet of bees wax that has the familiar octagon embossed on it. With this invention getting the bees to make comb where it is most advantageous to the beekeeper become possible.

   Several sheets of wax foundation.

      Lastly, the extractor was born. This machine made it possible to extract the honey from large numbers of movable frames at one time. This invention made possible the ability for a small number of men to harvest massive amounts of honey. And so the commercial beekeeper was born.

    A honey extractor. Note the one frame, this extractor holds 20 frames.

     So, as you eat your Thanksgiving dinner this year remember that every third bite comes directly or indirectly from honey bee pollination. And remember to thank both the Pilgrims and the honeybee because with one and not the other none of us would be here today to thank them.