Πήλινες κυψέλες από την Κυδωνία: συμβολή στη μελέτη της μελισσοκομίας κατά την αρχαιότητα

The study deals with the ceramic beehives that came to light during excavations in the centre of Chania, in parts of the ancient city’s (Kydonia) cemetery of the 4th/3rd c. B.C. Nine beehives were found within a deep layer of sand with premature and newborn infant inhumations accompanied only by few simple grave goods. Two others were found in a cist grave with adults’ burial. They belong to the horizontal open-at-one-end type with a hole at its closed end. Five are almost cylindrical and have a ring-shaped base, while the rest are bell-shaped.Based on examples from the rest of Crete and the Greek area, the possible way of practicing beekeeping with beehives of this kind is examined. The traditional beekeeping in the Aegean islands and in Ikaria in particular, practiced up to the 20th century, seems particularly useful to this point. The Kydonia beehives, dating to the Late Classic / Early Hellenistic times, are the most ancient of the two forms of the horizontal open-at-one-end type, with a hole or holes at the closed end. They have been found in Crete and seem to be local (Cretan) variants.