Before the Teutonic Knights began the colonization of the so-called “Great Forest” (Grosse Wildniss (Grosse Wildniss), the areas encompassing Yotvingia proper and its southern part also called Połeksz (Polexia), had been very sparsely populated for at least one hundred and fifty years. In the area of today’s Stare Juchy, the founding of new villages, mostly under Magdeburg Law, began before the Thirteen Years’ War (most probably in the years 1444-1454). The Order of the Teutonic Knights based its settlement campaign on people who came primarily from Polish territories. The new landlords received the privileges due to the so-called freemen, also called landowners or Freye. Initially, their legal status was similar to that of the nobility, who in exchange for land, were obliged to pay rents, tithes, and provide military service and participation in hunting.
The settlers, who appeared in the post-Yotvingian areas of the “Great Forest”, started farming where forests and lakes predominated. To obtain arable fields, meadows and pastures, they cleared or burned part of the forest. In the remaining forests beekeeping flourished, i.e. keeping bees in hives made (knitted) in the trunks of old trees. The residents of both Stare and Nowe Juchy were also allowed to set up home apiaries. In addition, under certain conditions, they could also hunt in the forests and engage in fishing.

A special role was played by bee-keepers, who were the most respected bee-keepers among the inhabitants. They not only managed the local honey production, but also exercised some judicial authority.