Alentejo Bee Keeping, Learning Tradtional Skills

Snr Antonio - Apicultor

Antonio knows his bees ...

Changing frames

Traditional Cork Hives

Feeding the Pigs

Feeding Family

here are far too many bees in the back of the van for my liking, but the old man isn't bothered. We're bouncing along through the woods along rough old track with a hive box on his lap.

Antonio is 75 any day soon but acts like an impetuous teenager. He is the last of his kind, a traditional peasant man who lives totally by his instincts, and the bees love him. When I went up the path to meet him the garden was a cloud of bees he says (translated), "Antonio knows the bees, I say come close is okay." And so I do and it is, fine, just don't move about too suddenly.

His 15 year old grandson Andre is driving us to a remote spot in the campo somewhere near the river, never mind if he has a licence, this is off-track. I can see it's the perfect place. Antonio is setting up some new hives in a wild-grove of trees out of the wind, south facing, with amazing views down across the winding River Mira plains.

Its' honey harvesting time end of June, around the Solstice, a very busy time for the bees and their keepers. Antonio's yard is like Uncle Steptoe's; everything, I mean everything is recycled, several times over. His bees have never seen a new hive. Antonio has maybe 15 in his garden, another 15 or more in slightly wilder places. Every one has a touch of hobbit-handywork about it, all higgledepiggledee held together by bits and pieces. There's a couple of donkeys nearby, a family of pigs in the sty end of the garden, and probably during the day you'll see a dozen geese, and a couple of dogs, small, but they'll happily bite your leg given a chance. Antonio's wife, Maria, is like a native indian squaw, practical wise old lady with a gleam in her eye.

Andre, their grandson lives with Antonio and Maria in a traditional earth cottage, part of a neighbourhood of a similar generation, people whose traditional lives are fast dissapearing. Theirs is a fine house, thick earthen walls keep it warm in the winter, cool in the summer. "It has no value", says Maria. Sadly modern Portugal has, like everywhere it seems, rejected and turned its back on the old ways, the traditional skills, the solid ground of our humanity. I say how happy I and my partner are to be rebuilding our house all from natural materials sourced nearby, learning a dozen priceless skills to go along with the experience. Remember that song, "You don't know what you've lost 'till it's gone!". These are a happy couple, in spite of the changing world all around whose values seem to be driven by an illusion of "consumerismo".

Andre is just a kid, a little rebelious. "When he wants, he works good" says Antonio, "When he doesn't want, nada bem - is no good." Which way to go for him? Family problems, the old ways, the old houses, when his friends have bikes, and want the modern distractions, fast consumerism, another world?

When we get back from the woods, Antonio, Andre his grandson and I harvest honey combs from three old hives. It's well after sunset. Andre is holding the torch, I'm smoking the hive, Antonio is working his shamanic bee magic. The combs are dripping with honey. The bees aren't complaining too much, perhaps they sense, "Antônio sabe ..." he knows what they like.

Later, when things have calmed down a bit, putting the big bowl of honey combs in his garage by the press, Antoni says to me:

"Antônio fala a verdade.
As pessoas pensam que meu modo está louco. Mas todo o mundo é igual.
Meio para mim, meio para você, igual!
Quando eu trabalhar, trabalho.
Quando eu comer, como.
Quando eu dormir, eu durmo.
Quando eu festa, festa!
Respeite para todo!"

"Antonio speaks the truth.
People think my way is crazy. But everyone is equal.
Half for me, half for you, equal!
When I work, I work.
When I eat, I eat.
When I sleep, I sleep.
When I party, I party!
Respect for all, eh?"

On my way back home as I'm riding through the darkness, I'm wondering about the future. Is there a way to cross this bridge together? How can we bring our instinctive knowledge and skills of a thousand generations into the new world for the younger people who know there is just one world? Who knows how the next few years will change our world? I know if I don't learn from people like Antonio, something is lost. But if I can learn well enough to show my kids or the ones to come - wow, then I am feeling the future will be in good hands.
Part II - Uma copo de vinho faz favor?