Have you ever been given a chore to do, but found yourself doing something very different to get through it? Sometimes, jobs you have to do can be a bit boring. But you can make them fun by playing little games while you do them. Maybe you arrange your shirts into the colors of the rainbow when you put them away, or pretend to play hockey while you sweep. Maybe you’ve even found better ways to do some of these things because you were “playing around” while you did them. 

Benjamin Banneker was one of those kids who could turn any chore into a game, and those games often helped him learn something or make the task easier. Benjamin was born in 1731 in Maryland, before the United States was even a country. Back then, Maryland was still a colony of Great Britain. Benjamin was black, and most black people in the colonies at the time were enslaved. But luckily, Benjamin was born free. His grandmother, Molly, was a former indentured servant from England, who had married an enslaved man from Africa. An indentured servant was someone who works for someone in order to pay back money they borrowed. It was a lot like slavery, but after a set amount of time, you get to be free again. Molly’s daughter, Mary, was Benjamin’s mother and his father, Robert, was a freed slave. 

Benjamin’s Begins Counting

There was one book in Benjamin’s house growing up: the Bible. Molly put that book to good use, and taught Benjamin and his sisters to read with it. Benjamin learned quickly. He became fascinated with numbers, noticing how the Psalms in the bible were numbered and learning to count without even trying. Soon, he was counting everything: fingers, toes, his siblings’ teeth. 

He even used counting to make his chores more interesting. The Bannekers owned a tobacco farm. There are always jobs to do on a farm, and everyone had to help. Benjamin would count things while he went about his duties: clouds, pigs, slugs he picked off tobacco plants. Numbers and math just seemed to click with him. Benjamin not only taught himself basic arithmetic, but more advanced types of math, like geometry and statistics. 

The curiosity of Benjamin Bannekers

Benjamin didn’t just amuse himself with numbers though. He was curious about everything around him. He wondered about the stars, moon, and sun, how they moved and changed throughout the year. As he grew older, he became a tinkerer as well. When something was broken, he could always figure out how to fix it. Usually, he’d find a way to make it work better too!

When he was a young man, Benjamin inherited his parents’ farm. Although running a farm is a lot of work, Benjamin still found ways to improve things and make his job a little easier. At this time, most farmers relied on the rhythms of the natural world to tell them when to do things. Day and night, the position of the sun in the sky told them when to get up, do chores, eat meals, and go to bed. The weather, stars, and plants told them when to plow, plant crops, and harvest. But Benjamin thought it would be easier if he had a clock. 

Clocks weren’t common back then. Almost no one had one in their house. Benjamin thought his tinkering skills might help though. He borrowed a friend’s pocket watch. This friend must have had a lot of confidence in Benjamin’s tinkering skills too, because Benjamin took the watch apart, carefully taking notes, measuring, and sketching gears as he did. When he was sure he knew how it worked, he began to cut and carve his own gears, axels, and pins. He made his version bigger–something that would sit on a table, rather than in your pocket. And, he added a bell on top that would strike on the hour. Clocks were so unusual that neighbors came by to marvel at it. In fact, Benjamin’s clock may have been the first one in the colonies!

Friends with Quakers

When Benjamin was a young man, the Ellicott family moved in down the road from his farm. The Ellicotts were building a mill, and one day they came to ask Benjamin’s mother about buying supplies. At first, she was suspicious, because most well-off white people in the area owned slaves, but soon the Bannekers learned that the Ellicotts were Quakers, Christians who believed slavery was wrong. Benjamin soon befriended a member of the family, George Ellicott. 

George and Benjamin had a lot in common. Both loved math and were curious about the world around them. They studied astronomy together, observing the stars through George’s telescope and learned the positions of the planets and constellations at different times of the year. George lent Benjamin books and tools to use in his studies. Soon, Benjamin was hard at work calculating when a solar eclipse would occur. He showed George his work. His calculations were very good, and George helped him refine them.

Benjamin enjoyed this hobby so much, he decided to do something big with it. He decided to write an almanac. Other than the bible, an almanac was the book you’d be most likely to find in a farmer’s home in the 18th century. Almanacs gathered a wealth of information that was important to a farmer: tables showing cycles of the moon, sun, and tides; calendars of when to plant different crops; weather predictions, and more. Benjamin got to work calculating the data he would need to include in his almanac for 1791: when the moon would wax and wane, sunrise and sunset times, high and low tides for every day of the year.  

But sometimes, opportunities come up, and we have to take advantage right away, or lose the chance. Another member of the Ellicott family, Andrew, offered Benjamin a job helping to survey the land for the new United States capitol, Washington DC. A surveyor tries to figure out how things can be built on the land. They measure distances and slopes, make maps and find the best spot to build a new road or building.  It’s a very math-heavy job, and Benjamin couldn’t refuse. 

Benjamin worked on his almanac whenever he could. As 1790 came to an end, he still hadn’t found a publisher though, so he wouldn’t be able to put out the 1791 almanac in time. He had to start over and write a version for 1792. With the survey work over, Benjamin worked day and night on his almanac. A man from Pennsylvania named James Pemberton helped him find a publisher. This would not be easy, since many publishers didn’t think a book written by a black person would sell. But Pemberton was an anti-slavery activist, and commited to helping Benjamin overcome these challenges. 

Benjamin and Thomas Jefferson

When he’d finished most of the almanac, Benjamin wrote to Thomas Jefferson, sending a copy of the book along too. Jefferson had written the United States Declaration of Independence, which contains the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

Benjamin wanted to know how Jefferson could write those words, yet still hold captive “so numerous a part of my brethren under groaning captivity and cruel oppression.” Brethren means “brothers.” Benjamin was asking Jefferson how he could justify enslaving other people, people with skin like his. According to Jefferson’s words, these people had rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  At this time, Jefferson was Secretary of State, a high office in the US government.

Benjamin would not have been surprised if Jefferson had ignored his letter. But Jefferson actually wrote back! He complimented him on his almanac and said he wished that someday slavery would end. While Benjamin was surprised that Jefferson wrote back at all, he may have wondered how he could hope for slavery to end, but not do anything to stop it.

In the meantime, Pemberton had found a publisher for the almanac, a man named William Goddard. Goddard promised to pay Benjamin generously, and advertised the work as “BENJAMIN BANNEKER’S highly Approved ALMANAC.” Benjamin had been studious in his calculations, and the book was deserving of approval. It contained calendars for planting crops, tables showing phases of the moon and other astronomical events, home remedies and herbal medicines. 

Benjamin did not forget his brethren either, people like him who were forced to work and live as property of others. He included excerpts from powerful antislavery essays and speeches. He also included an essay by his friend Dr. Benjamin Rush that suggested a Peace Office in the United States government. Scattered throughout were meditations on how to live a good and just life. The almanac sold out quickly, and Benjamin published a new version each year until 1797.

Benjamin Banneker’s Latter Years

By that time, Benjamin Banneker was an old man. He could look back on his long life and accomplishments with pride. But he never forgot that such accomplishments were out of reach for most black people in the United States. As a surveyor, almanac writer, and astronomer Benjamin used a lot of numbers and math in his work, but he also spoke out for what he believed in whenever he could. Benjamin valued freedom and fairness, and he knew that everyone had a responsibility to stand up for those values.

Benjamin passed away in 1806, at home in his log cabin. The clock he had built over fifty years before still chimed each hour, marking out his days–his rising, his work, his rest. A fire destroyed the cabin just days later, along with many of his papers, tools, and the clock. It would never ring out again. But nothing could silence the brave words and knowledge that Benjamin had sent out into the world. And even though slavery wouldn’t end for another 60 years, nothing could silence the voices of those speaking out for freedom and fairness. 

Sources

https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

https://web.archive.org/web/20170130044246/http://www.xyht.com/professional-surveyor-archives/feature-benjamin-banneker/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h71.html

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h68.html

https://transcription.si.edu/project/8045

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Banneker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2012) Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America. Disney, New York.

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What was the last sweet thing you ate? How long ago was it? Earlier today? Yesterday? Maybe last week? If your family is anything like mine, you’ve probably eaten something sweet within the last few days. Throughout much of human history though, it was very rare to eat things that were sweet. In many parts of the world, even fruit was only available at certain times of year. It only ripened in spring and summer. Sugar from sugarcane, like the white and brown sugar you likely have in y our kitchen, was a luxury in much of the world until the last few hundred years. 

But, there was one reliable source of sweetness. It was available in many parts of the world, and could be kept for years (assuming no one ate it first!) The only trouble was, you risked getting stung when you tried to go after it. 

Have you guessed what it is? 

Buzzzzz, buzz…. it’s honey!

There are many species of bees. Not all make honey, and most of those that do don’t make a lot. Some bees live in hives, but others nest underground or in holes they drill in wood. Some live in groups, while others live alone. But the bees we’ll focus on in this podcast are the ones who make lots of our oldest sweetener: honeybees. Honeybees originally evolved in Asia, but spread out to Europe and Africa, where they split into two more subspecies. And eventually, humans would bring these bees to every part of the world where they could survive.  

Humans, bees, and honey have a very long relationship. We don’t know exactly when our obsession with the sticky sweet stuff started, but it’s possible we’ve been eating honey since before we even became humans: our closest animal relatives, the great apes, all eat honey! Cave paintings from over 4 thousand years ago in Spain and South Africa show people climbing ladders to reach wild hives. 

Many modern hunter-gather tribes eat honey as well. Hunter-gatherers are people who get their food by hunting animals and finding wild berries, nuts, and roots. They often travel many miles per day to find food. One East African tribe, the Hadza, actually team up with wild birds called honeyguides in order to find hives. A honey-hunter will give a special call to get a honeyguide’s attention. The honeyguide will then lead the hunter to a hive. In exchange for the help, the hunter will give the bird a small reward of honeycomb…But not too much. If the bird is full, they won’t want to eat again soon, and they won’t guide the hunter to more hives! These are modern people, but the fact that they seek out honey gives a hint that our prehistoric ancestors, who were also hunter-gatherers, might also have gone after beehives. 

When we began settling down on farms and in cities, we found ways to keep up our supply of honey right from the beginning. Archeologists have found beeswax residue on potsherds that are over 9 thousand years old. People only began to farm about 10 thousand years ago! They’ve also found evidence that beeswax was used as glue, for waterproofing, and in cosmetics in ancient times. People made candles, figurines, and writing tablets out of it. As for honey, ancient people not only ate it but used it as a medicine: It can help stop bacteria from growing in wounds and soothe a sore throat.

With so many uses for honey and beeswax, it’s not surprising that people began to domesticate honeybees. Domesticate means to raise an animal or plant in a setting where people can easily get what they need from it. People may have begun managing bees by putting out attractive nesting sites, like hollow logs or empty jars, in the hopes that they’d end up with a convenient supply of honey. But bees have never been tamed in the way that cows or pigs or dogs have. They still go where they want to and find their own food, even if a person owns the hive. And of course, they still sting us if we bother them, which tame, domesticated animals usually don’t do! But people have always thought it was worth it for the sweet honey and useful beeswax they get in return. 

We know from written records that many ancient cultures in the Middle East and Greece kept bees, and even revered and respected them. The Hebrews called their promised land “the land of milk and honey.” They managed hives right in the middle of crowded cities!  

The ancient Greeks thought honey gave people energy. Greek athletes drank a mix of honey and water before competitions. Greek mythology also had stories of bee-nymphs, or spirits, who could tell the future. These creatures, called the Thriae, looked like women on top, but like bees on the bottom, and had bee wings. 

Honey was more than just a treat or medicine for the ancient Egyptians. It was a gift from their sun god, Ra. They believed that when Ra cried, his tears fell to Earth and turned into honeybees. They placed jars of honey in tombs for the dead to eat in the afterlife, which archeologists have found. And guess what? The jars were so well sealed, that the honey inside was still safe to eat after thousands of years underground. (Though I don’t think anyone ate more than a tiny sample!) The Egyptians also used honey bees as a symbol of royalty, and fed honey to sacred animals. 

So you probably won’t be surprised to learn that the Egyptians took beekeeping seriously too. Ancient murals show beekeepers checking on hives, using smoke to calm the bees, and sealing honey in jars. They used artificial hives made by stacking clay pipes on top of each other like logs. They would move the hives up and down the Nile on special boats to keep them near blooming flowers, where they could gather nectar. Similar hives are still used today in Egypt by traditional beekeepers. That’s a longstanding tradition!

Bees continued to be important to people beyond ancient times. Before the industrial revolution, when many people lived in rural areas, children would often go out looking for wild beehives and nests. Now, you can just go to a drugstore and buy something sweet, but back then, sugar was still rare and expensive. At least one person even wrote a poem commemorating the childhood hobby of hive-raiding. The end of it goes:

And just as sure as you’re alive

I’ll make a visit to your hive,

And thank you, bumble-bee so bold,

For making honey bright as gold.

Maybe “honey bright as gold” is worth enduring a sting or two! Children in the past seemed to think so.

If you want first-hand evidence though, you could ask a modern beekeeper. Today, people have taken honeybees all over the world. Beekeeping is a hobby for many people, and a business for others. In addition to her fans being known as the “Beyhive”, Beyonce  has two hives on her property. Many other celebrities, from Samuel L. Jackson to Martha Stewart share her interest in bees! 

On the business side, bees (and not just honeybees) are also important for food crops. They pollinate many plants whose products end up on your table, like almonds, watermelon, and apples. When a bee feeds on a flower, some of the pollen gets stuck to their legs. When it moves to the next flower, some of that pollen falls off on it, which allows a fruit or a nut to grow. Honeybees pollinate a lot of different plants, but so do other bees, such as mason bees, leafcutters, and bumblebees. Not all these plants are food, some are flowers that brighten our gardens, or sit in vases on our tables.  Commercial beekeepers actually rent out nests and hives and deliver them to farms when plants are blooming, to ensure a good crop. 

Unfortunately, the spread of honeybees has had some unwelcome results for wild bees in areas where humans have brought them. The local, wild bees eat from the same plants as honeybees. Often, they can’t compete with the honeybees and don’t get enough food. When people bring honeybees from far away, those bees can also bring diseases with them that are more dangerous to the local, native bees. The native bees end up struggling to survive. 

People have been chasing bees and their honey for ages, but bees do so much more than just sweeten our food. Their honey and wax can be put to many different uses. Much of the food on our plates is possible because bees pollinate those crops. 

But even without their usefulness, bees are amazing creatures. Many live in large, complex societies, where different bees have specific jobs to perform. Honeybees have special ways of communicating with each other to show where food is. They can fly up to six miles, at 15 miles per hour, and visit 50 to 100 flowers in one trip. Different species of bees live in an amazing variety of environments–from grasslands to sand dunes, to wetlands and gravel pits. Some drill into wood to make their nests or use mud packed into tiny holes. So next time you see a bee, try not to worry. It doesn’t want to sting you. Try to stay still, keep your distance, and watch it go about its business. See what flowers it visits, and follow it if you can. Maybe you’ll see it fly into its hive or nest. No matter what, you’ll see a creature hard at work for its own survival, all the while making your world a little sweeter and more beautiful.  

Sources

Brine, Mary Dow (1883) Jingles and Joys for Wee Girls and Boys. Cassell Publishing Company. 

Chepulis, Lynne (2008) Healing Honey: A Natural Remedy for Better Health and Wellness. Universal-Publishers

Hanson, Thor (2018) Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees.  Basic Books. 

https://americanbeejournal.com/tiposlinks/fun-facts/

https://www.apicultural.co.uk/exponential-increase-in-global-honey-bee-populations-as-a-driver-of-wild-bee-declines

https://www.apicultural.co.uk/tears-of-re-beekeeping-in-ancient-egypt

https://www.museumoftheearth.org/bees/diversity

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2300160-worlds-most-common-bee-originated-7-million-years-ago-in-asia/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/humans-relationship-honeybees-goes-back-neolithic-era

https://www.planetbee.org/planet-bee-blog//the-sacred-bee-bees-in-ancient-egypt

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/

https://www.thoughtco.com/history-honey-bees-and-human-management-171271

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sugar

https://www.wwf.org.uk/learn/fascinating-facts/bees

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