Beekeeping in the Russian Empire
I͡A. Lisit͡skiĭ , a preacher, leaning against his bee pavilion, which could house 32 colonies.
Photo taken from M. V. Galunov's 1911 publication, "Tipy pasi︠e︡chnykh postroek mshanniki, pavil'ony, pasi︠e︡chnye domiki, nav'sy dli︠a︡ konotrol'nykh ul'ev; ikh opisanie i ystroĭstvo". Most photographs from this text were taken in the Weimar Republic and Hungary. The text was meant to inspire and orient wealthy Russian beekeepers to build similar constructions.
Beekeeping Texts from the Russian Empire
- Zhiznʹ pchel i glavnyi︠a︡ pravila tolkovago pchelovodstva byCall Number: SF523 .P829 Phillips Beekeeping CollectionPublication Date: 1892"The Life of Bees and the Main Principles of Rational Beekeeping" is an 1892 guidebook on beekeeping. It includes recipes for bee feeds, discusses plants that bees visit, and contains an appendix of common and uncommon beekeeping terms.
- Rukovodstvo dli︠a︡ pasi︠e︡chnikov osnovannoe na uzuchenīi prirody pchely i mnogoli︠e︡tneĭ praktiki︠e︡, s prilozhenīem statʹi: "Dokhodnoe pchelovodstvo." byCall Number: SF523 .A57Publication Date: 1903"Instructions for beekeepers founded on studies of bee biology and multiple years of practice, with additional essay: profitable beekeeping" is a 1903 instruction manual. This text includes instructions for setting up a well-hive or stump apiary, and shares how to culture honey-bearing plants in one's garden. You can access this text online through HatiTrust.
- Rukovodstvo kʺ pchelovodstvu si︠e︡ 58 risunkami vi︠e︡ tekste byCall Number: SF523 .R924 1877Publication Date: 1877"Instructions for beekeeping with 58 illustrations" is an 1877 manual describing rational beekeeping methods. It also contains a historic-biographical section, in which innovations by Russian and international beekeepers such as A. M. Butlerov, A. F. Sokolov and Jan Dzierzon are described.
- Pchelovodstvo s prilozheniem opisanii︠a︡ pchelʹnika po sposobu Nudta s risunkami byCall Number: SF523 .P35 1885Publication Date: 1885"Beekeeping with insert: description of beehouses by methods of Nutt" is a combined manual and advertisement intended to inform beekeepers about how to construct beehives using the design of English beekeeper, Thomas Nutt. Mann Library happens to have eight publications authored by Nutt in English, and one in German.
- Tipy pasi︠e︡chnykh postroek mshanniki, pavil'ony, pasi︠e︡chnye domiki, nav'sy dli︠a︡ konotrol'nykh ul'ev; ikh opisanie i ystroĭstvo byCall Number: SF532 .G18Publication Date: 1918"Sorts of apiary structures: omshannik, pavilions, apiary huts, and covers for show hives... their description and structure" is an aspirational text for wealthy beekeepers who want to organize their apiaries in a European fashion. There are multiple photos of apiary structures, several of which feature the beekeeper-owners. This text is available online.
- Pchely (Mellifera) byCall Number: Oversize QL568.A6 M83Publication Date: 1875-1876.Pchely (Mellifera) by F. F. Moravit︠s︡
"Bees (Mellifera)" is one volume of a four-volume entomological series.The text taxonomically organizes the bee species observed by explorer A. P. Fedchenko, during his expeditions to Turkestan. Turkestan is a region of Kazakhstan, not to be confused with Turkmenistan. Latin and Russian text provides description of male and female specimens, alongside dates and locations of sightings.
Beyond Beekeeping
Mann Library Special Collections holds 28 texts ranging from 1815 through 1917, published during the Russian Empire.
Beyond bees and beekeeping, the library's Russian Empire-era collection can provide fascinating glimpses into the daily life, culture, and economy of the 19th and 20th-Century Russian Empire.
There is the beautifully-documented study of domestic apple varieties composed by N. E. Regel, and a 1913 summary of fruit crop research from the Crimea research station.
Multiple entomological publications cover the topics of arachnids and lepidoptera. There are two publications on ants: one is a collection of stereoscopic photographs published in 1911, while another is an entomological exploration of ants in Turkmenistan, one volume published in the three-volume text authored in 1877. Wasps and dragonflies both have one publication entirely dedicated to their topic, but both also have their own volume in the aforementioned 1877 text. The Horae Socieatatis Entomologicae Rossicae, or the Russian Entomological Society (later renamed the All-Union Entomological Society) has publications in our collections ranging from 1861 to 1988.
The library also holds three texts by Sofʹi︠a︡ Aleksandrovna Davydova, who documented the cottage industry of lace production in the Russian Empire.
Another text that looks closely at a specific industry before the revolution, is Petr Ivanovich Li︠a︡shchenko's text covering the Russian flour industry published in 1911.
There are two texts on viticulture and wine-making in general, and one text specific to Crimean viticulture and wine-making.
- Russkai︠a︡ pomologii︠a︡, ili opisanie priznakov i sposobov razvedenii︠a︡ sortov plodobykh rasteniĭ, proizrastai︠u︡shchikh v si︠e︡vernykh, srednikh i i︠u︡tovostochnykh gubernii︠a︡kh Rossii byCall Number: SB363 .R3Publication Date: 1868"Russian Pomology, or a description of appearance and propagation of fruit trees growing in northern, central, and southwest governorates of the Russian Empire"
Trudy Krymskoĭ plodovoĭ stantsii by Call Number: SB354 .K62Publication Date: 1913A summary of pomological research in Crimea, with several photographs of fruit specimens.
- Arachnid Research CollectionsA collection of publications featuring arachnids. Earliest publications start at 1886, dating through 1992.
- Katalog Cheshuekrylykh Rossiĭkoĭ Imperii. Catalogus Lepidopterorum Imperii Rossici byCall Number: QL556 .E73KPublication Date: 1870"Catalog of Lepidoptera in the Russian Empire"
- Select Cheshuekrylyi︠a︡ (Lepidoptera) byCall Number: Oversize QL556 .E73Publication Date: 1974"Lepidoptera"
- Zhiznʹ muravʹev: alʹbom stereoskopicheskikh fotografiĭ byCall Number: QL568.F7 S12Publication Date: 1911"The life of ants: album of stereoscopic photos"
- Muravʹi (Formicidae) byCall Number: Oversize QL568.A6 M83Publication Date: 1877This volume exploring ants is bound with several other volumes; one features bees (Melifera), one features dragonflies (odontada) and one features velvet ants (Mutillidae), wasps (Sphegidae), and clearwings (Chrysidiformis).
- Skolli (Scolidae) byCall Number: Oversize QL568.V5 S25SPublication Date: 1880This appears to be a translation from French, a text about wasps.
- Strekozy (Odonata) byCall Number: Oversize QL568.A6 M83Publication Date: 1877"Dragonflies". One volume of a multi-volume entomological series, all bound together.
- Trudy Vsesoi︠u︡znogo ėntomologicheskogo obshchestvaCall Number: QL461 .R96Publication Date: 1861-1988Publications of the Russian Entomological Society. Titles date through and beyond the Soviet Union, several volumes available online.
- Russkai︠a︡ mukomol'nai︠a︡ promyshlennost' i torgovli︠a︡ mukoĭ byCall Number: HD9056.R9 L6Publication Date: 1911"Russian flour-milling work and trade." Available online.
- Ampelografii︠a︡ Kryma: opisanie sortov vinograda razvodimykh v Krymu akademika S. Korzhinskago byCall Number: Oversize SB387.63.C7 K67 1904 ++Publication Date: 1904"Crimean Ampelography: description of grape varieties propagated in Crimea by the academic Korzhinskiĭ."