Beekeeping in Celtic and Indo-European

Abstract

This article reconstructs where, when and how Celtic speakers adopted beekeeping on the basis of the Celtic apicultural vocabulary. Following a short introduction giving the archaeological and historical background of beekeeping, it is argued that Celtic inherited a lexicon for bee produce from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), but not for bees or beehives. The various external sources and internal derivations for the remaining words in the apicultural lexicon are then employed to reconstruct in what periods and from what sources Celtic speakers adopted beekeeping. This reconstruction demonstrates that bee domestication by IE speakers post-dates PIE. A European lexicon can be reconstructed for bees, drones and hollow beehives, implying that sylvestrian beekeeping was adopted by IE speakers soon after their migration into Europe. A Proto-Celtic (PC) layer relating to swarming suggests that PC speakers achieved more intimate knowledge of beekeeping, while words for beehives are of even later date, suggesting continued innovation in hive-building techniques after the break-up of Celtic.