Digital Heritage Moment: Appalachian Beekeeping

The practice of beekeeping entered Appalachia with the earliest European settlers, and honey was a prized sweetener long before granulated sugar was available. As late as the mid-20th century, most mountain farmers kept hives and practiced the skills of beekeeping. Honey was eaten at home, given to friends and sold at roadside stands.

Since the 1980s, beekeeping has declined across the mountain region with the loss of small farms, the spread of hive diseases and fears of aggressive African bees, though none of these have been found in Appalachia. Still, beekeeping endures as a popular hobby and a well-organized cottage industry that provides the prize honeys of the mountains—tulip poplar, clover and sourwood.

Digital Heritage Moments are produced at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. To learn more, visit DigitalHeritage.org. You may also hear Digital Heritage Moments each weekday on radio stations WKSF-FM, WWCU-FM, WMXFAM, WPEK-AM and WWNC-AM.