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PSANKY EGGS & BEEKEEPING
What is a Psanka Egg? It is a Central and Eastern European tradition of designing Easter eggs in a grid pattern and then drawing over the design with beeswax and then similar to the process of batik the eggs are dyed in layers of color and then coated in a thin layer of polyurethane. The beauty of the psanka egg is attributed to its symmetry and intricate patterns.
The tradition spans as far back as 934 AD. With origins in paganism but later transferred to Christianity. In large families 60 or more eggs would be completed by the women in the house, the more daughters they had, the more eggs they would produce. The eggs would then be taken to church to be blessed and then given away.
To give a Pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of life, which is why the egg must remain whole. Traditionally, Pysanky would be placed in several places to insure good luck and protection from evil, tucked away in a place where it would not be broken.
Some claim the origin of hiding Easter eggs probably comes from the Ukrainian tradition that blessed Pysanky were believed to protect households from evil spirits, catastrophe, lightning and fires. An egg would be placed somewhere in the house, barn or with the livestock.
In Ukraine, the tradition of Psanky eggs also involved an interesting beekeeping tradition in which it was the customary to place at least one Pysanka egg beneath each bee hive to insure good production of honey
