trobo/truebanu - beehive - colmena
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:33 am
trobo: pronounced TROE-boe; truebanu: pronounced troo-EH-bah-noo. Trobo is the name given in westernmost Asturias to the dwelling place of honeybees, usually the hollowed-out trunk of a chestnut tree. The scent of the wood is important in attracting the swarm. In some places, the trunk of a cork tree (sufreira) is used.
Truebanu is the name given in West Asturias to the traditional beehive structure. In Central Asturias, the word is either truebanu or caxellu. Variants for this last word include caxiellu and caxillu.
In the process of language substitution, in which Castilian Spanish replaces Asturian and Galician in the countryside, beekeepers increasingly use the word colmena (Spanish for beehive) to designate the modern box-like structure.
According to a beekeeper in County Ibias, honey production in the trobos of West Asturias does not exceed 3-4kg/year. The hollowed-out trunks are usually topped with a slab of slate or birch. The opening for the bees is located at the bottom. Trobos can often be found inside circular stone enclosures known as curtines/cortines, which were built to protect the swarm from marauding bears.
The verb for extracting the honey is esmelgar. Extraction usually takes place in July or September and is not advisable in August. Smoke from a fumeiro or fumon is used to keep the bees at bay during the extraction of the panels.
Usage examples:
Gustavo tien sous trobos no val.le la solana. [Gustavo’s beehives are located in the sun-drenched valley.]
Celso punxo los trobos no corredor de sua paneira. [Celso put his beehives in the granary walkway.]
Xuan pidiume un DVD pa saber cumo esmelgar los truebanos de Silvamayor. [Xuan asked me for a DVD to find out how to extract honey from the beehives at Silvamayor.]
Truxemos los truebanos del curtin. [We brought back the beehives from the stone enclosure.]
Folk wisdom:
Cuando alredor del caxellu bullen muncho les abeyes y van pal que s’arima, lluego pingaran les teyes. [If the bees are buzzing around the beehive and swarm toward whoever approaches, it is a sign that the tiles on the roof will soon be wet (rainfall is likely)].
Here is a lonely trobo/truebanu atop a stone hedge outside of the village of El Rebollu in the area known as Tres-la-Marta (beyond the Marta Pass) in County Ayande (Allande):
Truebanu is the name given in West Asturias to the traditional beehive structure. In Central Asturias, the word is either truebanu or caxellu. Variants for this last word include caxiellu and caxillu.
In the process of language substitution, in which Castilian Spanish replaces Asturian and Galician in the countryside, beekeepers increasingly use the word colmena (Spanish for beehive) to designate the modern box-like structure.
According to a beekeeper in County Ibias, honey production in the trobos of West Asturias does not exceed 3-4kg/year. The hollowed-out trunks are usually topped with a slab of slate or birch. The opening for the bees is located at the bottom. Trobos can often be found inside circular stone enclosures known as curtines/cortines, which were built to protect the swarm from marauding bears.
The verb for extracting the honey is esmelgar. Extraction usually takes place in July or September and is not advisable in August. Smoke from a fumeiro or fumon is used to keep the bees at bay during the extraction of the panels.
Usage examples:
Gustavo tien sous trobos no val.le la solana. [Gustavo’s beehives are located in the sun-drenched valley.]
Celso punxo los trobos no corredor de sua paneira. [Celso put his beehives in the granary walkway.]
Xuan pidiume un DVD pa saber cumo esmelgar los truebanos de Silvamayor. [Xuan asked me for a DVD to find out how to extract honey from the beehives at Silvamayor.]
Truxemos los truebanos del curtin. [We brought back the beehives from the stone enclosure.]
Folk wisdom:
Cuando alredor del caxellu bullen muncho les abeyes y van pal que s’arima, lluego pingaran les teyes. [If the bees are buzzing around the beehive and swarm toward whoever approaches, it is a sign that the tiles on the roof will soon be wet (rainfall is likely)].
Here is a lonely trobo/truebanu atop a stone hedge outside of the village of El Rebollu in the area known as Tres-la-Marta (beyond the Marta Pass) in County Ayande (Allande):
