How did we select the regions for harvesting honey?
At the outset, when we planned to increase the number of bee colonies, we realized that, above all, our prime task should be to select suitable regions for beekeeping. The country produces large quantities of honey from conventional crops that is why we decided to harvest more rare types of honey, and to be able to offer better quality and variety of products. We explored the regions of three municipalities, village by village. Our priorities were first to discover the largest possible regions with vegetation of wild herbs, shrubs and trees, and at the same time, with low developed, or no conventional agriculture at all. That is how we selected great places, where our bees feel excellent all year round and delight us with quality honey.
What types are the flowering plants in the regions of our Apiaries?
Flowering meadows Hundreds of types of flowers, shrubs and trees bloom within a radius of 5 km from our Apiaries. Of course, the bees do not prefer all of them. In different parts of the day, depending on the humidity and temperature, the bees may prefer one or another blossoming vegetation. We, beekeepers, constantly monitor what blooms in the region and whether it is visited by bees, whether they use the blossoms to collect pollen or nectar, etc. We make also a pollen analysis of the honey, thanks to which we can say with higher precision what plants bloom within that radius.
Based on our observations and pollen analyses we have compiled the following list of plants that bees prefer for nectar extraction: Магарешки бодил, Синя жлъчка, Метличина, Детелина, Комунига, Лъжичина, Лечебна Мъдрица, Секирче, Гръмотрън, Пролетен фий, Мъдука, Бучиниш, Резене и др.
What are the types of honey our bees produce?
From left to right: Honey of hawthorn and spring flowers, Acacia honey, wildflowers honey, oak honey. Currently we harvest honey mainly from wildflowers, flowering shrubs and trees. Our honey is predominantly polyfloral, from a variety of blossoms. Occasionally, our bees produce honey from hawthorn, acacia and fruit trees, sometimes even honeydew honey. Although we are in areas with poorly developed agriculture, sometimes it happens to harvest honey with a small percentage of sunflower honey.
What tests do we make of honey?
The different types of honey, harvested at different times of the year, differ both in aroma and taste, and in chemical composition.
The vast majority of the plants from which the bees collect honey, are medicinal plants. Honey absorbs the nutritional and medicinal properties of plants, and that is why each type of honey has its typical therapeutic effect. For this, we make analysis of each batch of harvested honey, so we can keep you informed of what plant bees have brought the nectar to make honey.
Each batch of harvested honey is tested in a licensed laboratory. We study the main honey features as total content of fructose and glucose, sucrose, diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural, pollen analysis, etc.
"Follow bees and you will get honey." - Swahili proverb
