Who owns a swarm of bees? And what happens when he wanders onto a neighbor’s property? In early medieval Ireland, these matters were governed by a remarkable set of laws known as “Bechbretha.” This defined the rights and responsibilities linked to beekeeping. Also known as the “Bee Judgments”, these laws were part of the medieval Irish legal system, Brehon Law (known in Old Irish as fénechas or customary law).
The Brehon Act favored restorative justice over criminal justice and was primarily concerned with the type of compensation to be paid for crimes committed. Most of the components of this corpus were recorded in writing in VIIe and VIIIe centuries, preserving much older traditions that had previously been transmitted orally.
Early medieval Irish society was hierarchical. In court cases, the amount of compensation due or received depended entirely on the social rank of those involved, with payments varying according to their status.
The Bechbretha provided a legal guide for attorneys handling cases involving bee trespass (when one neighbor’s bees trespass on another’s land and “steal” nectar from flowers and plants), injury or death caused by bees, theft of hives, and the compensation owed in each situation.
A swarm, judges and flour
In medieval Ireland, bees had legal status as they were classified as domestic livestock. Thanks to their high value, and like cattle, horses, pigs, poultry and sheep, they benefited from legal protection. Beekeeping produced a wide range of products, including honey for food and sweetening, as well as mead and beer, beeswax for candles, putties and writing tablets, and other products used in medicine – including polishing, lubricating, skin care and waterproofing.
The Bechbretha also had another objective: to maintain good relations within local communities. According to the Bechbretha and another legal text – the Bretha Comhaithchesa (“Judgments on the Neighborhood”), dating from the 8the century–, a mutual agreement within the agricultural community guaranteed the payment of compensation in the event of trespass, theft or injury caused by an animal. A certain level of trust between neighbors was necessary for this process to work.
That said, it’s one thing to show where a neighbor’s large pet trespassed or caused damage. It’s another to prove that the neighbor’s bees have ravaged your flowers, stealing the nectar before flying away buzzing with their ill-gotten spoils.
The Bechbretha suggests dusting the bees with flour, following them to the source and thus identifying the culprits. As honey bees tend to return regularly to the same nectar sources, it can be effective to track and mark them with white flour, which scatters on the ground as they fly, leaving a visible flight trail. The law also states that the owner of stray bees has three years to harvest their honey, but starting from the fourth year, he must give up the first swarm of that hive to the injured party.
The Bechbretha also dealt with issues relating to the ownership of swarms that settled and built new hives on private or communal land. The beekeeper who discovered the new hive was entitled to a third of the honey for three years, but after this period, the owner of the land on which the swarm had settled became its owner. When a swarm was discovered in a forest, the person who found it was entitled to (almost) everything. Both the local church and the patriarch of the family group of the person who found it were entitled to a share.
When hives were stolen or illegally moved and the perpetrators were stung or died from a sting, beekeepers were not held responsible. When bees sting people without provocation, compensation was due, although if the victim killed the bee(s), their death was considered sufficient compensation. Generally, in valid cases where someone was stung, killed or maimed, the hives were handed over as payment.
When bees had the value of livestock
Theft of hives carried heavy penalties, which varied depending on their location. The closer a hive was to property – especially high-ranking property – the greater the compensation. This generally took the form of cattle, the main currency in Ireland before the introduction of metal money. Theft of hives from monasteries also carried heavy fines.
The existence of a set of early medieval Irish laws devoted exclusively to bees testifies to the high esteem in which these little creatures were held. The restitution in the form of hives and bee products encouraged the proliferation of beekeeping throughout the community. In pre-industrial Ireland of the early Middle Ages, where the survival of society was so dependent on climate, bees played a central role in the agricultural system, just as they do today.
At the end of thee century, the authors of Irish historical chronicles reported two cases of bech-dibad (bee mortality) which led to mass starvation and numerous deaths among the human population. The fact that these disasters were recorded is a crucial point, as it suggests an awareness of what would happen if bees were to disappear.
Today, bee colonies around the world face multiple threats: habitat loss, climate change, toxic chemicals and deadly invasive parasites. Bechbretha demonstrates that, if the will is there and communities get involved and feel concerned, it is possible to protect our bees.
