As a British proverb says, " The history of honey goes with the history of mankind." Men and bees have had a close relationship since ancient times. Since honey used to be the only sweetener for men, people climbed up high and hunted honey from natural beehives, daring the danger of their whole body being stung. A mural describing honey hunting, painted around 7000 B.C, was discovered in 1924 in Aranha Cave, Spain. Similar murals and paintings in caves were discovered one after another in other places in Spain, South Africa and India.

These paintings tell us ancient people hunted honey from the hives of the honeybees (Apis mallifera) and the giant bees (Apis dorsata)(India) during the end of the ice age and after the Mesolithic era. Simple tools such as baskets were used in those days.

This traditional honey hunting can be seen even today in South Africa, Southern Arabia, India (Himalayas), Nepal and Southeast Asia. Vine ropes, ladders, baskets, axes and knives are used for it.