Hunters and honey. A story eight thousand years long

The 'honey hunter' is suspended in mid air in front of a rock face without any footholds. Around him, the bees have gone crazy. But the man does not hesitate. His hands move as if they didn't feel the stings, grabbing the lumps of honey hidden in the honeycombs and secreting them into a kind of bag hanging from his shoulder.
In 1921 a wonderful painting was discovered in the Spider cave in southern Spain, not far from Valencia. It was eight thousand years old and it pictured this Mesolithic man 'hunting' for honey. In Europe, India and southern Africa (wall frescoes painted by artists from the remotest past have appeared in Zimbabwe caves, showing men chasing away bees using smoke), the protohistoric man already knew honey and was willing to risk his life to enjoy its energy and sweetness.