VIDEOInadani is the largest area for the keeping of Japanese honeybees in Nagano Prefecture. Its complex topography has fostered three Japanese honeybee cultures (Iwasaki and Ihara 1994, Iwasaki 2001). This film is a record of our visit to the village of Ōshika, in Shimoina County, with Mr. Yasushi Iwasaki, who conducted field research in the area 30 years ago as a high school teacher. This area is classed as a Mountainous Horizontal Hive Cultural Area, where honeybees are kept in horizontally installed hives.
Over the past 30 years, mountain village society has changed, and new problems such as parasitic tracheal mites and other animal damage have arisen. Beekeepers in Ōshika Village have responded to these problems by innovating and changing the shape of their hives, beekeeping tools, and honey harvesting methods. This film introduces the current state of hobby beekeeping in the village, including a beekeeper with 70 years of experience and father-and-son master beekeepers.
Japanese subtitles version 「ニホンミツバチとともに生きる 長野県伊那谷における伝統養蜂調査の30年」