The Galician Alvarizas: Heritage of Medieval Beekeeping

Two meters high and one meter thick. Such were the dimensions of the wall to fend off a bear attracted by the honey from the hives. And this is how they were built in Galicia during the Middle Ages, when the brown bear roamed its mountains: the best way to protect the bees was to place them in hard-to-reach locations and surround them with stone belts. The Galician alvarizas are just that: robust circular constructions that house apiaries at their core. Defensive rural architecture to protect a food source that, for centuries, was the only sweetener available in the area.