Petro Prokopovych (1775–1850, uk, Петро Прокопович) was a revolutionary

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

beekeeper, the founder of commercial

beekeeping Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...

and the inventor of the first movable frame hive. He introduced novelties in traditional beekeeping that allowed great progress in the practice. Among his most important inventions was a

hive frame A hive frame or honey frame is a structural element in a beehive that holds the honeycomb or brood comb within the hive enclosure or box. The hive frame is a key part of the modern movable-comb hive. It can be removed in order to inspect the bees ...

in a separate honey chamber of his

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...

. He also invented a crude

queen excluder In beekeeping, a queen excluder is a selective barrier inside the beehive that allows worker bees but not the larger queens and drones to traverse the barrier. Queen excluders are also used with some queen breeding methods. Some beekeepers bel ...

between brood and honey chambers. Petro Prokopovych was also the first to ever model a 'bee beard' after delineating and calculating 'bee swarm behaviour", inspiring students for generations.

Biography

Prokopovych was born in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

(then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

), in the village of near

Baturyn Baturyn ( uk, Бату́рин, ), is a historic city in Chernihiv Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. It is located in Nizhyn Raion (district) on the banks of the Seym River. Baturyn lost its city status in 1923 and received it back only in 2 ...

on June 29th, 1775 into a clerical family of priests of

Ukrainian Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

descent. Starting at the age of eleven, he studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy for eight years. After studies he committed to a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

career. He resigned his commission in 1798, bearing officer rank, and enjoyed retirement at his brother's

apiary An apiary (also known as a bee yard) is a location where beehives of honey bees are kept. Apiaries come in many sizes and can be rural or urban depending on the honey production operation. Furthermore, an apiary may refer to a hobbyist's hives or ...

. By 1808 Prokopovych had 580 beehives. Prokopovych studied the biology of bee colonies and strove to improve existing methods of beekeeping. His main intention was to develop methods that allowed the least disturbance and damage to bees. These efforts resulted in 1814 in the invention of the world's first frame hive, which allowed an easier honey harvest. Another invention was a wooden partition with apertures passable only by worker bees, now called a

. It made possible the harvest of pure honey from the frames. Prokopovych's inventions represented a landmark in the history of beekeeping and marked the beginning of commercial beekeeping. His scientific work resulted in more than sixty articles in

printed media Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

such as

newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

and

magazines A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

. Prokopovych's revelatory invention of the world's first dismountable and portable frame hive allowed keepers to freely inspect the bee colonies and remove honey without destroying the bees. Previously the usual practice was to kill all the bees with smoke before taking the honey. Another passion of Prokopovych was teaching. He set up a beekeeping school that prepared more than 700 qualified beekeepers over its 53 years of existence. As a

beekeeper A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees. Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...

, Prokopovych owned 6600 colonies and became wealthy. Prokopovych was buried in the village of Palchyky, currently in

Nizhyn Raion Nizhyn Raion ( uk, Ніжинський район) is a raion (district) of Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Nizhyn. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, the ...

Chernihiv Oblast Chernihiv Oblast ( uk, Черні́гівська о́бласть, translit=Chernihivska oblast; also referred to as Chernihivshchyna, uk, Черні́гівщина, translit=Chernihivshchyna) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. T ...

, where his beekeepers' school was located. A monument to Prokopovych stands there, and the Ukrainian Institute of Beekeeping is named after him. In 2015 a 2 Hryvni coin was crafted to commemorate his contribution to Ukrainian beekeeping and sustainable commercial agronomy.

References

Sources

Beekeeping in Ukraine

Article about Prokopovych
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prokopovych, Petro Beekeeping pioneers Military personnel of the Russian Empire Inventors from the Russian Empire National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni 1775 births 1850 deaths Ukrainian beekeepers Ukrainian inventors