Die Bienenzucht im Balkanraum – zu Mythologie und Etymologie

Abstract

In Southeastern Europe the bee played a central role as a mythological being in ancient times. Very old traditions connected to beekeeping have been preserved right up to the present day. This applies to the material culture as well as the domain of popular beliefs. After tracing the roots and history of beekeeping in Ancient Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, using examples of words belonging to the semantic field of beekeeping we show its etymological complexity, while commenting on word origins, derivational processes and semantic developments.