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The image and status of beekeeping is being transformed due to the worldwide enthusiasm for honeybees and concern for their future in our changing world. Yet media discussions about honeybees reveal a tension between naturalist and productivist visions of beekeeping, a tension also found in beekeeping development programs. While illustrating how diverse honey production and its socio-technical organization are, our study of Corsica (France) and Souss (Morocco) show that the naturalist/productivist polarization does not transpire in beekeeping itself. Finally, we discuss this tension in the light of ecologization and the importance of the territorial framework in which beekeeping is conducted, which provides a way of moving beyond a generic and polarized vision.