Beekeeping has a long tradition within our family as my grandfather started with this business in 1919! This mean that we take care of bees in the 3. generation now.
During that time many setbacks and changes had to be solved, but anyway, the fascination and the passion for this hobby are still the same.
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Migratory beekeeping
Already my grandfather started with the so-called migratory beekeeping at a time, when the motorization was at the very beginning. Migratory beekeeping means that the bee colonies with their combs and housing are loaded on e.g. a trailer at the beginning of the darkness or during the early morning. After driving to a new place the bees get the chance for gathering again enough nectar and pollen. Additionally this is a possibility to harvest different kind of honey.
After the end of the blossom of fruit trees like cherry and apples the first migration goes to the “Schwäbische Alb”, in former timer for the golden yellow honey of the dandelion, nowadays the rape provides a safe nectar flow.
In June it is necessary to outlook for wild honey in “Schwarzwald” or the “Schwäbischer Wald”. Or think about the fact whether the chestnut would be the better alternative.
During all those years not only heavy bee colonies but also lean years occurred. Maybe the worst setback was the burned down bee house.
Mode of operation
But on the same time the fire was the chance to start with the magazine beekeeping. There you can adapt the room used by the bees to their needs by adding (or removing) depots.
Unfortunately the varroa mite occurred in the 90th. For producing honey of high quality in healthy bee colonies it is very important to spend all your attention to this parasite.
Quality
Quality is our highest goal, although we don‘t use a costly seal (certifying organic product).
Due to the fact that this subject- like the whole bee keeping- is varying a lot, only, on my point of view, the most important aspects are listed:
- rebreeding of young, vital bee colonies without additional purchase of foreign bees
- no medicine being used