The Bee Museum: One of a Kind
May 20 is World Bee Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness about the importance of bees.
Interestingly, humans have been harvesting honey since the Stone Age. A prehistoric cave painting found in Spain, dating back 8,000 years, depicts a person climbing a tree to collect honey from a wild bee nest. While it is unclear when beekeeping began in domestic settings, archaeologists have discovered that it was already practiced in Ancient Egypt as early as the third millennium BC. Beekeeping was a highly respected profession, and one of the Egyptian pharaohs even held the title “Lord of the Bees.”
This time, I want to share my visit to the Bee Museum in Geghashen village, where you can see a fascinating collection of bee-shaped objects. This museum is one of a kind, not only in Armenia but even globally. The goal was to create a space that has no equivalent worldwide.
In the museum’s courtyard, you will find the world’s largest bee statue. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures because the museum was still under construction during my visit.
The museum features exhibits from 47 countries, collected over a period of 50 years. The collection includes artifacts from pre-Christian times to the present day.
Some fascinating exhibits include:
🔸 An Ancient Armenian Coin
In 192 AD, King Artashes II commissioned coins in Greece featuring a bee on one side and his portrait on the other. Only four of these coins have survived, and one of them was acquired from an Iranian collector in Hamburg.
🔸 A Book About Bees from 1840
The museum holds a rare book published in 1840 in Edinburgh, dedicated to the history of bees. It contains 30 hand-drawn illustrations, 19 of which are in color.
🔸 Napoleon Bonaparte and His Love for Bees
It turns out that Napoleon Bonaparte was fascinated by bees, which is why a specific species is named Napoleonic bees. The French Emperor admired bees so much that their image appeared in his personal chambers, home furnishings, blankets, and carpets. At the Bee Museum in Geghashen, you can even see a plate from General Bonaparte’s personal tableware.
🔸 The World’s Smallest Bees
There are over 20,000 species of bees in the world. The smallest ones are known as Bolivian bees, and at the museum, you can see one preserved in natural amber, using a magnifying glass.
📍 If you want to explore this one-of-a-kind collection, visit Geghashen village in Kotayk Province. Here, you will find a variety of unique exhibits, all dedicated to one central theme: bees. 🐝