This study examines the scientific and archival documentation of a collection of early 20th-century hand-held woodworking tools used to craft beekeeping equipment, which is on display at the Museum of Beekeeping History of the Middle Dnieper Region within the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve «Pereyaslav», their popularization, and introduction into scholarly circulation.

It has been established that in the early 20th century, beekeeping equipment was made by hand. The manufacturing process relied on the use of traditional hand-held woodworking tools that met the needs and technical capabilities of the time. Since the transition from log hive beekeeping to non-removable hives, and later to frame systems, required beekeepers to produce new, high-quality equipment.

Based on an analysis of the museum’s scientific and inventory records, it has been established that the exhibition space of the Beekeeping Museum features over 600 exhibits representing the historical and technological evolution of beekeeping. The museum’s collection includes 16 hand-held woodworking tools, which are listed in the inventory groups of both the main and auxiliary collections. These tools have deep historical roots and were used not only by beekeepers but also by many woodworking craftsmen, even after the advent of more sophisticated tools.

A structured classification of tools has been carried out based on their functional purpose and the nature of the mechanical action exerted on the material: ranging from the initial preparation of wood to the final finishing of finished products (beehives, bee feeders, honey storage containers, etc.). Based on an analysis of scientific and archival documentation, their design features are traced. Each woodworking tool is considered as a holistic system consisting of two key elements: the working part, which directly interacts with the material (wood), and the handle, designed for the craftsman to hold and guide the tool. The working part is made of metal, while the handle is made of wood, hemp rope, and other materials. The woodworking tools in the collection under study vary in size and shape but serve the same purpose. Today, they stand as a testament to living folk memory and the ethnic tradition of woodworking.

1. Aleksieienko, F. & Babych, I. (1966). Vyrobnycha entsyklopediia bdzhilnytstva [Production Encyclopedia of Beekeeping]. Kyiv [In Ukrainian].
2. Postoienko, V.O. (2021). Bdzhilnytstvo Ukrainy [Beekeeping in Ukraine]. Kyiv [In Ukrainian].
3. Velyka ukrainska entsyklopediia [Great Ukrainian encyclopedia]. URL: https://vue.gov.ua/.
4. Vydatnyi ukrainskyi bdzholiar Petro Prokopovych [Outstanding Ukrainian beekeeper Petro Prokopovych]. URL: http://www.hetman.tv/nomera/2018/2018-5-6/bdjolpro.html.
5. Vytvytskyi, N. (1835). Praktycheskoe pchelovodstvo yly pravyla dlia liubytelei pchel, yzvlychennye yz dolhovremennoho opyta, s obiasnenyem vnov usovershenstvovanykh ulei [Practical beekeeping or rules for bee lovers, extracted from a long-term survey, with an explanation of newly improved hives]. Part 1. Sank-Peterburh [In Russian].
6. Dmytrenko, A. (2017). Ostanni bortnyky Volynskoho Polissia (za ekspedytsiinymy materialamy z Kamin-Kashyrskoho i Ratnivskoho raioniv) [The last birdwatchers of Volyn Polissya (based on expedition materials from the Kamen-Kashyrsky and Ratnivsky districts)]. Materialy P’iatoi Volynskoi naukovo-etnohrafichnoi konferentsii «Etnohrafichne muzeinytstvo v Ukraini i na Volyni», 27–28.03.2017 [Materials of the Fifth Volyn Scientific and Ethnographic Conference «Ethnographic Museum Management in Ukraine and Volyn», 27–28.03.2017]. Luzk, (pp.14–16) [In Ukrainian].
7. Dmytrenko, A. (2013). Tradytsiini cholovichi promysly: bdzhilnytstvo (na materialakh ukrainskoho Polissia). Narodna kultura ukraintsiv: zhyttievyi tsykl liudyny: ist.-etnohr. doslidzh. T. 4: Zrilist. Choloviky. Cholovicha subkultura. [Traditional men's crafts: beekeeping (based on materials from Ukrainian Polissya). Folk culture of Ukrainians: human life cycle: historical-ethnographic research. Vol.4. Maturity. Men. Male subculture]. (Vol. 1–5). Kyiv [In Ukrainian].
8. Pachkova, S. (1974). Hospodarstvo Skhidnoslov’ianskykh plemen na rubezhi nashoi ery (za materialamy zarubynetskoi kultury) [The economy of the East Slavic tribes at the turn of our era (based on materials from the Zarubynets culture)]. Kyiv [In Ukrainian].
9. Rozov, S. (1972). Ocherky po ystoryy otechestvennoho pchelovodstva [Essays on the history of domestic beekeeping]. Moskva [In Russian].
10. Sauliak, B. (2018). Rozvytok derevoobrobnykh remesel Skhidnoho Podillia kintsia XIX – pochatku XXI st.: proekt «Naukova knyha» [Development of woodworking crafts of Eastern Podillia in the late 19th and early 21st centuries: the «Scientific Book» project]. Kyiv [In Ukrainian].
11. Funds of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve «Pereyaslav». Inventory books of the Ethnography fund group.
12. Funds. National historical and ethnographic reserve «Pereyaslav». Scientific Support Fund.
13. Kharchuk, L. (2023). Bortnytstvo Polissia – mynule i suchasne [Polesie's birding – past and present]. Bdzhilnytstvo Ukrain – Beekeeping in Ukraine, 10, 69–76 [In Ukrainian].
14. Yurchenko, T. (1926). Korotkyi narys istorii ukrainskoho pasichnytstva [A brief outline of the history of Ukrainian beekeeping]. Plyuky [In Ukrainian].