The Historical Collection is a digital archive of nearly 700 historical beekeeping artefacts, apicultural tools, research materials, and cultural objects collected by Dr. Eva Crane during her travels around the world.
An Historical Collection of Beekeeping Artefacts
The Historical Collection is a unique digital archive of beekeeping artefacts, apicultural equipment, historical objects, and research materials assembled by Dr. Eva Crane (1912–2007), one of the world's leading authorities on bees and beekeeping.
About the Collection
Throughout her life, Dr. Crane was dedicated to documenting and preserving knowledge about bees, beekeeping, and the relationship between people and bees across cultures. During her extensive travels throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, she collected a wide range of beekeeping artefacts and historical objects from around the world.
The collection has over 1,740 catalogued items representing the history, science, and culture of beekeeping. Objects range from traditional bee hives and queen cages to honey extraction equipment, mead bottles, coins featuring bee imagery, and other artefacts associated with apiculture.
Historical Significance
The Historical Collection provides valuable insight into the development of beekeeping practices across different countries and cultures. Many objects were personally collected by Dr. Crane during her international research journeys and reflect the diversity of beekeeping traditions worldwide.
Preservation and Digitisation
In 2022, the collection was donated to the Eva Crane Trust by the International Bee Research Association. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dirk de Graaf, every item is being carefully photographed, documented, and re-catalogued within a digital archive system. There are currently 700 items available for public viewing.
Many records include original catalogue descriptions, historical notes, sketches, and photographs, making the collection an important resource for researchers, beekeepers, historians, educators, and anyone interested in bee science and apicultural heritage.
Explore the Collection
Browse the 700 digitised artefacts and discover the history of beekeeping through one of the world's most important collections of apicultural objects and materials.
Go to the Catalogue
Please note that the images in this collection are the property of the Eva Crane Trust ©. For full terms of use please click here. If you wish to obtain permission of use please contact: mail@evacranetrust.org