Archives
Bee on willow catkin. Sergio González Ahedo.
Years ago beehives were kept on most farms. Honeybees were highly respected, appreciated and loved for their honey and wax.
So much so that whoever got rid of a swarm of bees would have an arm amputated, as older folk from the Valley of Carranza (Bizkaia) used to say. This ancient thought still lives in the memory of our elders, who thus would never destroy a hive. A similar belief that bee and honey thieves were punished by removal of their right arms entered the folklore of some localities in Álava. (more…)
Illustration by Ángel Badillo for the tale “Cata-ovales” by Antonio de Trueba.
The tradition of collecting honey from combs —known as tástanas or tástanos— made by wild bees in caves and rock crevices was widespread in areas of the district of Las Encartaciones in Bizkaia. (more…)
Old chestnut log hives. Miguel Sabino Díaz.
In Carranza, up in the mountains of Ordunte, a spot known as Los Cepos Vinagre —The Vinegar Hives— in lands under Pando Council jurisdiction houses the remains of an ancient apiary, a real treasured asset of the local ethnographic heritage. (more…)
Bilbo-Abando
Colon de Larreategi 14, 2. esk.48001 Bilbo (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 443 76 84
labayru@labayru.eus
Derio
Larrauri 1A, 5.a48160 Derio (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 406 01 71
idazkaritza@labayru.eus
Bilbo-Bolueta
Metroalde eraikinaBilbo-Galdakao errep. 6A
48004 Bilbo (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 607 72 10
labayru@labayru.eus
