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The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 1 (187), 178—192

UDK 39(=161.2):[72.031.4:638.1](477.81/.82)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

The date the article was first submitted to the publication 16.02.2026

The date the article was accepted for publication after review 9.02.2026

The date of publication (publication)

LOG BEEHIVES AS AN ELEMENT OF THE FARMSTEAD IN WESTERN POLISSIA (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM THE LIUBOML AND RATNE AREAS)

LONCHUK Serhii

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2489-3947
  • PhD student,
  • The Ethnology Institute
  • of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,department of Historical Ethnology,15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: serhiy.lonchuk@gmail.com

Abstract. Introduction. Log beekeeping is a distinctive ethnocultural phenomenon that evolved from forest beekeeping (bortnytstvo) and has survived to the present day. The origin of log beehives is associated with bort trees felled by storms: a bort cut from the trunk of a fallen pine tree was transformed into a log beehive. Later, log beehives began to be specially manufactured.

During field research on vernacular architecture in Western Polissia, conducted in the Ratne and Liuboml areas, measurements were taken of 80 log beehives as one of the elements of the farmstead. Today, log beekeeping has a relict character: fewer beekeepers in the region use log beehives, which leads to the loss of this object of material culture. Therefore, their documentation, measurement, and comparative analysis determine the relevance of this research.

The purpose of the article is to characterize log beehives of the Ratne and Liuboml areas as an element of the traditional farmstead of Western Polissia, based on field materials collected in November-December 2025, and to trace their origin, construction features, methods of placement, and the current state of preservation.

The object of the research is forest beekeeping (bortnytstvo) and log beekeeping in Western Polissia, while the subject of the study comprises borti and log beehives. The main research methods employed include comparative and typological approaches, methods of integrated analysis, and field research. The territory of the research includes parts of Western Polissia, specifically certain villages in the Ratne and Liuboml areas.

Conclusion. The ways in which log beehives were arranged  — in orchards, along vegetable gardens, on trees within farmsteads, and occasionally in cemeteries or at forest edges  — directly influenced the organization and planning structure of the peasant household. Such phenomena can be observed both in the Ratne and Liuboml areas and in adjacent regions of Western Polissia.

As a result of field research conducted in the Ratne area, a significant number of log beehives were documented as a relict element of the traditional farmstead of Western Polissia. The analysis of their construction and measurements made it possible to identify a stable local proportional model of the log beehive characteristic of the area.

Keywords: ethnology, material culture, cultural heritage, vernacular architecture, farmstead, borti, log beehives, forest beekeeping, beekeeping, Polissia.

REFERENCES

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