At Lithuania’s first Mead Festival, the co-founder of the Polish-Lithuanian Beekeeping Brotherhood initiative reflects on the community-building and intercultural elements of the centuries-old tradition of honeymaking.
In the pine forests of Dzūkija National Park in southern Lithuania, an ancient tradition is buzzing back to life.
Enthusiasts are reviving the practice of bartnictwo (traditional tree beekeeping) as a way to acknowledge the shared heritage of Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, and develop a more harmonious relationship between humans and bees.
In an article published in Kurier Wileński, Lithuania’s main Polish-language newspaper, journalist Rajmund Klonowski reports on the activities of the Beekeeping Brotherhood (Bractwo Bartne), an informal cross-border group that has been running since 2013.
Unlike pszczelarstwo (modern beekeeping), which involves man-made hives and frequent intervention, bartnictwo relies on the natural habits of bees. Hollows are carved into living trees or suspended logs to serve as hives, and bees are left to build their combs undisturbed. As Piotr Piłasiewicz of the Beekeeping Brotherhood explains in the article:
“Today’s style of beekeeping is a 19th-century invention. Previously, humans were more aligned with nature. The honeybee has been living on Earth for 120 million years as part of the ecosystem. In the Augustów Forest, where we operate, the native Central European bee of the Augustów line has survived – adapting to local conditions since the last ice age. In the 1970s, a protection zone was created here to prevent the introduction of foreign species.”
Choosing the right tree for the hives is part science, part intuition: not too large or small, with plenty of sunlight to prevent dampness. In Dzūkija, some of these living hives are thought to be more than a century old.
Honey harvesting here is a delicate process, quite unlike the industrial methods of modern apiaries. Whereas a modern beehive can produce some 60kg of honey a year, only around 2-3kg can be extracted from a traditional barcie. The produce itself can be 10 times more expensive, but for Piłasiewicz, the labour and cost is worth it:
“Beekeeping gives us a sense of peace and fulfilment – our own place in the forest, which we take care of, to which we return. We want to show that you can live in harmony with nature, and not change it.”
The revival of bartnictwo has also taken on cultural and political significance. The Beekeeping Brotherhood, a Polish-Lithuanian initiative, works with partners in Belarus and Ukraine to promote this shared history. As a result of the group’s efforts, traditional beekeeping was recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage in 2020.
At a meeting last year, members of the Brotherhood presented a certificate of the UNESCO listing to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was visibly moved, recalling her own family’s connection to beekeeping.
The article in Kurier Wileński notably recounts the story of a Polish Brotherhood member who, upon arriving in Lithuania to help install tree-hives, committed to learning Lithuanian fluently in just six weeks.
This extreme, intensive immersion in local culture serves as yet another reminder that bartnictwo is not just about bees and honey. It’s about community and the transcending of national boundaries.
Original article (“Na Litwę wraz z Polakami wraca bartnictwo. ‘W półtora miesiąca w Dzukii nauczył się litewskiego’”) by Rajmund Klonowski appeared in Polish in Kurier Wileński on 21 April 2025.
It’s available here.
Kurier Wileński is a Polish-language publication in Vilnius, Lithuania – and the only Polish-language newspaper printed east of Poland.
Summary by TM.
