Imaginary itinerary with the hyblean beekeeper

A bright afternoon welcomes us, wayfarers, in a blue silence in Ispica’s rocky settlements. The beekeeper is our guide amongst the worn away stones of the rocky area. The silent valley gets busy; the people follow the beekeeper who moves forward with a steady step showing us the flights and the area in which the bees go to suck their pollen.

The thorny Spina Janca with its threadlike rosy-white corollas, covers the fields; here and there, among the stones, the ciocca lurks with its upright inflorescence. The blue flowery varraina alternates with the thistles which dot the fields thickly. The almond trees show their new and tender leaves, and fragrant orange flowers start to blossom. Going into the green vegetation, in an outbreak of colours, a row of luxuriant ficodindia leads us to the rural bees’ dwelling.

The bees' house

A singular dwelling called logghia protects the hives (vasceddi). The roof is covered with grey tiles spattered with yellow moss, while the hives, ordered in rows, are made with pinewood or ferula wood.

Dry-stone walls, two meters high, bound the surface which contains the hives. The consistency of the structure is in perfect harmony with the landscape, while the natural settlement respects the style of that place. The hives are placed inside natural caves.

The beekeeper, a few meters away from the hives prepares the smoker (pignatu), a copper container where dry weeds, dung, and ferula shavings burn. While the smoker burns, he puts the hives on the stones of dry-stone walls and detaching the cover of the rear base gently pushes the bees inside. In performing his task the beekeeper has got a distinctiveness of his own, with his gestures, following a definite work sequence; he is linked to his bees and to his working traditions and goes on asking nature and environmental resources the preservation of his job.

Text of GRAZIA DORMIENTE