RUSSIAN BEEKEEPERS: A CONTOUR OF SOCIOLOGICAL PORTRAIT
The paper addresses the group of those engaged in beekeeping. It shows the specifics of their work, business communication and socio-role positions from the standpoint of the economic, technological, ethical and aesthetical aspects of their life and activity in the social environment. Numerous narratives cited in the paper and the categorization of their meanings show that the Russian reality is undergoing social-structural changes, and the boundaries of mobility are expanding. We study the specifics of beekeepers' business communication in the rural-urban continuum and outline the prospects of reproduction of those engaged in beekeeping. Because of the uneven work load, beekeepers can be individuals who have assistants among the members of their families or other relatives or retired people. The subtleties of the technology of handling bees, the rationality of organizing their life and activity, observed by man from year to year, suggest philosophical generalizations of the meanings of order in human communities. The beekeepers' information competence is another side of their sociological portrait. It is only due to its depth and solidity that one gets into the core of the group and is recognized as a professional. The uncertainty and instability of the results caused by weather conditions, organizational drawbacks and the state of health is not an obstacle for going on with their fascinating activity for true beekeepers. The specifics of the socio-role positions held by beekeepers suggest that beekeeping is rather an occupation for the elect, not for everyone. The high status of beekeepers is also fixed in the public consciousness, which is due to the fact that the range of their socio-role functions is wide and because they possess some specific knowledge that many do not have and that provides benefits to its owners. The paper also addresses some aspects of institualization of beekeeping in the country, the relations between beekeepers and government authorities and shows the difference between amateur and large-commodity beekeeping. Being more mass, the former is not merely an economic activity, but it also fulfills the no-less-important recreational function, which is confirmed by many regular participants in this kind of employment.