Prokopovych was born in
Ukraine (then part of the
Russian Empire), in the village of near
Baturyn on June 29, 1775, into a clerical family of priests of
Ukrainian Cossack descent. Starting at the age of eleven, he studied at the
Kyiv-Mohyla Academy for eight years. After studies he committed to a
military career. He resigned his commission in 1798, bearing officer rank, and enjoyed retirement at his brother's
apiary. By 1808 Prokopovych had 580 beehives. Prokopovych studied the biology of bee colonies and strove to improve existing methods of beekeeping. His main intention was to develop methods that allowed the least disturbance and damage to bees. These efforts resulted in 1814 in the invention of the world's first frame hive, which allowed an easier honey harvest. Another invention was a wooden partition with apertures passable only by worker bees, now called a
queen excluder. It made possible the harvest of pure honey from the frames. Prokopovych's inventions represented a landmark in the history of beekeeping and marked the beginning of commercial beekeeping. His scientific work resulted in more than sixty articles in
printed media such as
newspapers and
magazines. Prokopovych's revelatory invention of the world's first dismountable and portable frame hive allowed keepers to freely inspect the bee colonies and remove honey without destroying the bees. Previously the usual practice was to kill all the bees with smoke before taking the honey. Another passion of Prokopovych was teaching. He set up a beekeeping school that prepared more than 700 qualified beekeepers over its 53 years of existence. As a
beekeeper, Prokopovych owned 6600 colonies and became wealthy. Prokopovych was buried in the village of , currently in
Nizhyn Raion of
Chernihiv Oblast, where his beekeepers' school was located. A monument to Prokopovych stands there, and the
Ukrainian Institute of Beekeeping is named after him. In 2015, a 2 Hryvni coin was crafted to commemorate his contribution to Ukrainian beekeeping and sustainable commercial agronomy. == References ==