Unfortunately, there is some misinformation circulating online about beekeeping and honey harvesting, and I am increasingly being asked about it by customers. That's why I wanted to provide some clarity with this post. Certainly there are also black sheep among the beekeepers. Especially with foreign honey (usually recognizable by the inscription "Honey from EU and non-EU countries") it cannot always be guaranteed that the bees are kept in a species-appropriate manner.
Species-appropriate beekeeping is very important to us. Therefore, we are open about how our honey is produced.
The bees are our most important employees and of course we do everything possible to ensure that no bees are harmed during the harvest. We do not eradicate an entire hive to get to the honey faster and we also handle every bee very carefully. We let our bees live as naturally as possible. We do not clip wings on new queens and older queens are allowed to live until they are naturally replaced by a younger one.
In order to prevent a colony from swarming, one cannot imprison the queen either, as is sometimes claimed. This would almost certainly kill her (and the entire hive) from the excitement. We swarm our colonies when they want to, and then recapture the swarms. This is how our bee colonies reproduce naturally.
Our bees also live in a fixed location and we avoid so-called hiking and stressful transport.
In addition, especially in Germany, beekeepers are very careful when dealing with their bees. It must always be remembered that even if a beekeeper's profit were paramount, he would incur losses if he mistreated, carelessly crushed or injured his employees.
With us, profit is not the top priority in honey production. We also never take all the honey from the hive, but often leave a few combs behind. Of course, honey is the food of the bees and if we take it, we have to provide an appropriate replacement. Every beekeeper in Germany does this too. He feeds his bees in late summer so they can store the new food to feed on in the winter.
Beekeeping is a give and take between bees and beekeepers. In most cases it is more of a hobby than a job for many. All German beekeepers that we know are not in beekeeping because of profit, but out of love and joy in working with bees. Unfortunately, some animal welfare organizations paint beekeepers with a grotesque caricature of beekeeping. These claims may apply to beekeeping in foreign countries, but certainly not to German beekeepers.
- The busy bees collect honey and pollinate plants at the same time
- The beehive is carefully opened and the bees are calmed with smoke
- The comb is removed from the hive and the bees are carefully swept away
- The wax lid is removed and the honeycomb opened
- The honey is spun and separated from the honeycomb
- The empty comb is returned to the hive and filled with honey again by the bees