honey and bee products

We go through the hives after winter, swap frames, clean the floors and feed the colonies that came out weak. The first warm days show how well each colony got through the cold. We open each hive only as long as we need to, so the bees do not lose their warmth. They have to be strong before the first forage.

Ten days, and that is all. We move the hives into the acacia forest before the buds open and leave them alone until the blossom falls. Acacia flowers briefly, so a single cold or rainy day can change the whole harvest. That is why acacia honey is a small batch every year.

Once the acacia has flowered and dropped, the bees move to the meadows. This honey is not a single variety but a mix of everything in flying range — camomile, dandelion, clover, linden. That is why meadow honey differs from year to year, by whatever flowered most that season. We never blend it with honey from another season.

We only spin sealed comb. If the honey is not ripe it does not leave the hive — the frame goes back and we wait a few more days. We uncap the comb by hand and spin the frames without heating. Every forage is spun separately, so nothing ends up in a jar that should not be there.

The honey is cold-strained through a sieve, never heated. Then it settles in a tank until the foam is skimmed and the taste has come together. We do not pressure-filter it, so it keeps what it brings from the hive. How long it settles is decided by the honey, not the calendar.

We fill by hand, into glass, straight from the tap. Every jar gets a label with its batch number and the forage it came from. We fill in small batches, so we always know which forage and which part of the season each jar belongs to. The jar is closed right after filling, while the honey is clean and still.

Jars go into cardboard cradles, one per cell, so they never travel glass against glass. We put on the label and protection by hand, jar by jar. Before it goes any further, every jar is looked over once more. That way it reaches you just as it left the apiary.

When the forage ends, the bees gather into a winter cluster and rest. We leave them enough of their own honey to live on through the cold. We do not open the hives — we only walk the rows and listen for a calm hum. Winter is also when we mend frames and equipment, so everything is ready by spring.

A year on, the honey in the jar is still what it was on the day we filled it. Over time the sugars bind into fine crystals and the honey lightens and thickens — a sign that it was never heated. Keep the jar at room temperature, away from sun, and if it sets hard, warm it slowly in lukewarm water. By then we are back in the apiary, at the start of a new season.