 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
MA/PhD Theses Abstracts of Current Students & Alumni |
 |
|
Hockersmith, Kelly (MA). Apalachicola's gold : archaeology and history of tupelo honey production in northwest Florida, (White). 2004.
Several archaeological sites in the lower Apalachicola River Valley
have evidence of beekeeping in the late nineteenth to early twentieth
centuries. At least two of these are also prehistoric sites (Depot Creek,
8Gu56 and Clark Creek, 8Gu60), which are Rangia (clam) shell mounds.
Both sites are deep in the river swamp, which has the largest stand of
tupelo trees in the world. The valley has a long tradition of beekeeping.
Apiarists (beekeepers) would bring their bees by boat to remote locations
in the swamps during the short tupelo flowering season to take advantage
of the extensive forest. Tupelo honey has been commercially harvested
since at least the nineteenth century, and has the reputation for being
one of the finest honeys world-wide. It is prized for its light golden
amber color and characteristic ability never to granulate, but to remain
in a liquid state. Shell mounds in the swamps offered high ground on
which to build honey production centers.
Such remote locations also were ideal for moonshine stills, with the
beekeeping and honey production as a plausible cover operation. A significant
amount of historical artifacts was [sic] recovered from both sites to
merit further research. A third site, Lower Chipola Apiary (8Gu104) is
a single component early-to mid- twentieth-century apiary consisting
of a standing two-story honey house and scattered beekeeping equipment.
Archaeological methods, historical research, and oral histories were
used to document beekeeping in the Apalachicola River Valley. Exploration
of beekeeping and honey production in this valley during the late nineteenth
to early twentieth centuries has offered significant data on a once notable
industry and way of life in northwest Florida, comparable to other agricultural
industries.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|