The Arboreal Apiculture Salon
Exploring the science, beauty and spiritual expression of Arboreal Apiculture
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An Interactive Live Stream & Podcast
Would you like to listen to or chat with arboreal apiculture experts and enthusiasts from around the world? It's easy join our free live stream events where you will receive a warm welcome and introduction to bees and their natural home. The Salon is recorded with a live online audience, and published as a podcast hosted by Jonathan Powell (Natural Beekeeping Trust), Cheyanna Bone and Michael J. Thiele, (Apis Arborea).
We have created a Telegram Group to continue conversations beyond the live Salon events. It provides a space to explore and share ideas and projects. If you are interested, please use this link to join the group.
NEXT FREE LIVE EVENT November 11th, 2026, 9:00am - 10:15am Pacific Time. Time Zone Calculator Link
Salon No. 51 With Maksym Bortnyk
For our next gathering, the Salon travels to the forests of Ukraine.
We welcome Maksym Bortnyk, researcher of traditional tree beekeeping and founder of Садиба Бортника, the Beekeeper’s Homestead, a cultural and educational center for bortnytstvo, the ancient Ukrainian practice of tending honeybees in the trees. Reaching back to the era of Kyivan Rus, bortnytstvo keeps colonies in hand-hewn log hives raised high in the forest, where the bees live close to the way they would in a wild hollow.
Maksym founded the homestead in 2021, carving log hives, welcoming wandering swarms into them, brewing honey mead in wooden barrels, and drawing beeswax candles by hand. In 2022 he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, serving until his discharge for health reasons in 2024, when he returned to his life’s work. He carries this tradition forward today alongside his rehabilitation, tending a rare collection of old bortnik tools and forest knowledge.
Salon Meeting Link. https://zoom.us/j/99726140670
Hosted by Cheyana, Michael and Jonathan
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