'Making honey? Every detail matters!'
In conversation with Wilco Schets of Imkerij De Traay
From the industrious worker bee extracting nectar from colourful flowers to the jar of honey on your table. Chances are that this honey comes from Beekeeper De Traay in the organic area of Lelystad. Did you know that 50 to 60 types of organic honey are made on the new land alone? Managing director Wilco Schets takes you into the special world of .... bees!
Where does your honey come from?
'From some 60 beekeepers from all over the world: from the Netherlands to the rest of Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Mexico. From small beekeepers, mainly in the Netherlands, with 100 to 200 hives to large beekeepers with a few thousand hives. That mix is quite special: we do business with both small and large beekeepers.'
Do beekeepers supply ready-made honey?
'No, they swing the honey from the combs. The honey comes to us in 300-kilo steel drums. We then sieve the honey and remove all gross contamination. Sometimes there are still dead bees in there or a piece of wood, of course you don't want that in your honey.'
What will you do with it afterwards?
'As little as possible! That's the art of honey-making. At every step you add, you lose aroma and quality. So it's only a very short production process. It also fits with our vision: to stay as close to nature as possible.'
So making honey is pretty easy?
'So it is not. You can't control the bees can you? Honey is a natural product, but our customers (supermarkets, specialty shops and health food shops) naturally want consistent quality. Every detail matters. We preserve the right colour, smell and taste in the production process.'
What fascinates you most?
'A hive full of bees is really an insanely complex entity. A hive is a real community of 20,000 to 40,000 bees with a huge division of labour between them. That queen is being pampered! The worker bees feed her, clean her and take care of the brood. The guard bees, yes they keep watch. Bees communicate with each other about the location of food by... dancing. Wonderful to see.'
Your honey is organic. What exactly does this mean?
'For the organic label, bees must fly in a 5-kilometre circle around the hive, without industry or traffic. Beekeepers are also not allowed to supplement with sugar water in winter, which is very common for conventional honey. Furthermore, of course, you are not allowed to use chemicals and that is a bit tricky, because bees are quite prone to diseases.'
Bee mortality is, of course, already a big problem. What can we do?
'You can already make a small difference by removing a tile from your garden and sowing flowers in it. That way, you ensure that bees have enough food, and that we can continue to enjoy honey. Without bees no pollination and therefore no food. It's as simple as that.'
What makes you happy?
'We make honey every day - in the midst of organic and biodynamic farmers. That is fantastic to do, but also very challenging. Then when I see how everyone gives their best every day, it makes me very happy!'
Cream honey
Cream honey is a soft creamy honey made from liquid honey mixed with finely crystallised honey. By stirring honey from, for example, sunflower and rapeseed, which will crystallise strongly, with a beautiful spring honey such as lime, you get a velvety smooth honey. Wilco's favourite? We have a delicious Italian orange blossom honey in our range. You taste the fruit. Oh, that's so delicious! Really flavoursome.'
