Sweet mass with fine aromas
Agnes wings
She looks like a ghost hunter from a sci-fi movie: white jumpsuit, gloves, rubber boots, in her hand a device called Smoker, which exudes fine smoke and distracts the attackers. On the wide-brimmed hat hangs a fine net, it covers the neck and face. But Agnes Wing does not want to hunt Hollywood monsters, just harvest honey.
She is one of the few women among 81000 beekeepers in Germany. "Bees are my life," she says. For the 41-year-old has given up her job and moved from the city of Hamburg to the Schleswig-Holstein country? in an old farmhouse, which is lonely between meadows and fields in the small town Waabs in a Baltic Sea bay.
Honey is a wonderful food
View from above on the hive
Now, in June, three weeks after flowering, she can reap raphonig in her "honey manufactory wings". In early autumn honey then comes from summer flowers, and sometimes, if there is enough honeydew, also harsh forest honey. "Honey is such a wonderful and healthy food," says Agnes Flügel, "but it has to be rid of its old-fashioned image and become hipper."
Honigschleuder
That almost sounds like a commercial, and Agnes Flügel knows about advertising. She was a public relations editor, sitting at her desk in her Hamburg office for up to 60 hours a week. She saw flowers and trees only on the tear-off calendar on the wall. She always wished to work in nature. She is a country child, grew up near the Baltic Sea near Kiel, and even as a girl, she was interested in "everything that crawls and flees". That was also the influence of her father, a marine biologist. However, he discouraged her from studying biology. So she decided in communication science and fine arts and then worked in a PR agency. But the varied, well-paid job soon lost its charm for her. More and more often she wondered if it really made sense what she was doing. Their yearning for a life in nature and with animals grew bigger every day. "When a wave of redundancies rolled through our company, I quit before it caught me," says Agnes Flügel. That changed her life.
By chance, she met an old beekeeper and looked over his shoulder at work one summer long. "It clicked, and I knew that was exactly my cup of tea." Shortly she bought three bee colonies plus accessories and started beekeeping.
Agnes Flügel's honey factory in Immenhorst in Waabs. The address is coincidence, she says.
The hobby has long since become a profession. Today, the beekeeper owns 25 bee colonies, each people owns up to 80,000 bees, "wings" as Agnes Flügel calls them. The animals produce around 400 kilos of honey twice a year, in spring and autumn. For every kilo they have to suck nectar from several million flowers, they mix with their saliva and transport everything in the honey stomach in the hive. There they feed the cane with their nectar, and they take over the further processing. In addition to a variety of healthy ingredients, honey is mainly made from sugar. At first he is still very watery. Therefore, the bees rearrange him several times in the honeycomb and fanning him with his wings air to accelerate the evaporation. If the honey is viscous enough, seal the cells with a wax lid. The wax for this is an endogenous substance that the animals sweat out of special glands.
The beekeeper hat is not very dressy, but protects against stings.
The type of honey the bees produce depends on where the beekeeper places the beehives. "A bee colony is flowering," explains Agnes Flügel. That is, it collects per season mainly varietal nectar, depending on what is blooming nearby: oilseed rape, lavender, sunflowers. Where the flowers are, the bees transmit each other with the famous waggle dance. "And while they fly from flower to flower according to their sophisticated system, they also carry their pollen and thereby pollinate the plants, we need the bees."
The beekeeper gets individual honeycombs, called frames, from the hive.
Agnes Flügel does her craft with great devotion. One of her favorite activities in beekeeping is "uncovering". She can experience first hand what her bee colonies have done, she says. For many days she stands in her white-tiled honey kitchen, where this typical scent hangs from beeswax. With a large fork, she lifts the white wax layer from the honeycomb, under which light yellow honey comes to light. Then the honeycombs can be thrown, whereby the honey dissolves from the cells.Then the honey is sifted to remove the wax residue, and stirred a couple of times to make it creamy? finished.
Agnes Flügel also makes flavourful variants of the mild rape-honey, because it is easy to refine. One day she just tried what she liked: she added espresso, mint, vanilla or lemon? everything from certified organic farming. "I want to seduce for honey bags!" She says. Her latest creation is a fruity-flowery honey with rose petals. The aroma honey "wings" have become a hit. So far, she's doing everything on her own, but that will change if the customer's enthusiasm continues. In any case, Agnes Flügel still has many ideas in her mind about how the world can win for honey, such as seminars for families and companies. But first she wants to sow wild flowers on the meadow in front of her house. As a bee treat. And as a small compensation for the stolen honey.
The most important questions about honey
How do I recognize a good honey?
A good honey is not only sweet, but it smells and tastes very aromatic. The color matches the specified flower variety. And also the consistency: A mixed honey, for example, candied naturally by nature. Mixed flower honey, which is very liquid (and remains), has been treated mostly, which always comes at the expense of the ingredients.
Is there bad honey in Germany?
Honey, which is sold in Germany, is a pure natural product, natural and without additives. This is what the German honey ordinance states. However, heating is allowed to keep the honey liquid. In the process, many healthy ingredients are destroyed. Occasionally, foreign honey is released onto the market, from which the valuable pollen was filtered out, for example, because they promote crystallization. But pollen is not only healthy, but very important for the quality control of a honey. They allow a botanical and geographical proof of origin, indicate whether the plant in question has been genetically modified, and also residues and illicit additives are better detectable in unfiltered honey.
What are varietal honey?
Bees visit only flowers of the same plant species during a trip. If this plant species provides enough nectar or honeydew for a long time, the bees can collect much of their nectar there. The resulting honey is called varietal honey, z. However, it is possible that bees fly to other sources of collection at this time. Therefore, the honey ordinance only requires that varietal honey "comes wholly or mainly from the flowers or plants mentioned".
What can I pay attention to when buying honey?
"As close to the bee colony as possible" is a useful rule of thumb. Local honey is also a good choice for ecological reasons. Because the bees play an important role in the pollination of domestic useful and wild plants. For German honey, the seal of the German Beekeeping Association (D.I.B.) guarantees high-quality, natural honey. D.I.B. producers must meet quality requirements that go far beyond those of the German Honey Regulation. You can also expect quality with honey, which bears the official hexagonal organic symbol. Even better is honey, which has also been certified by an organic farming association, such as Demeter, Gäa or Naturland. These associations require more from their beekeepers than the official minimum standard. However, many small beekeepers who produce high-quality honey can not afford expensive certification. Therefore: Just try it!
Is organic honey better?
Nobody can explain to bees that they should avoid artificially fertilized, pesticide-contaminated or genetically modified flowers. However, the EU Organic Regulation requires that within three kilometers the bees should consist mainly of organic crops, wild plants or low-impact agricultural land. Polluting industries, highways or waste incinerators may not be nearby. In bee hives, for example, organic beekeepers do not use synthetic chemicals, and beehives must only be made of natural, residue-free materials (wood, clay, straw). Cultivation associations such as Demeter or Gäa have even more extensive regulations, for example also on animal welfare.
Why does honey crystallize?
Basically crystallizes (beekeepers say candied) every untreated honey after a certain time? this is due to the glucose contained in the honey. When he candies, depends on the variety: Acacia and fir honey have a high fructose and a low grape sugar content, are therefore quite liquid and often candite only after years. In forest honey, it is after a few months so far, in the viscous, strong grape sugar-containing flower and mixed honey after weeks, rapeseed and honeydew can become stuck within a few days. To prevent crystallization, many beekeepers stir their honeys creamy? on the quality that has no effect.
Is the addition "cold-skimmed" to honey a quality feature?
No.Honey is always hurled at hive temperature between 20 and 30 degrees. At a lower temperature the honey would not flow out of the honeycombs, at higher temperatures the wax would melt and heavily contaminate the honey.
How healthy is honey?
Honey contains substances with antibiotic effects, minerals and enzymes, many vitamins and amino acids. Its pollen, for example, provides valuable phytochemicals such as flavonoids and phytosterols. Honey also contains mainly simple sugars, ie fruit and glucose. They are easier to digest than table sugar. In alternative medicine honey is used against inflammation and to strengthen the body's defenses. However, you must not heat it over 40 degrees, otherwise you destroy its effect. Lukewarm honey milk is better than hot. And honey should be stored cool and dark.
Here is the honey of Agnes Flügel
Happy in her job: the beekeeper Agnes Flügel
www.fluegelchen-honig.de Online ordering and a list of outlets in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony
Bees and honey live
Irmi Jacob and her husband Martin Hofmann lead small groups through their Demeter apiary Reichardsroth in Franconia. Admission: 5 Euro / reduced 3 Euro, including honey tasting. Information and registration under Tel. 098 65/94 16 30 or via www.jacob-hofmann.de
Bees and honey online
www.bioimkerhonig.de Information about organic honey, beekeeping and beekeeping. With online store
www.beegood.de or www.mellifera.de Here the model of the bee sponsorship is presented
www.bluehende-landschaft.de Info and action portal on the ecological importance of bees
www.heimathonig.de Beekeeper addresses and online shop
bees sponsorships
They are cute and industrious, they love flowers and they do not make excessive noise. Fewest godparents can claim that from their protégés. With a bee sponsorship, you contribute to securing the natural habitats of bees and support the education and research work for species-appropriate beekeeping. Offered is the sponsorship of the initiative? Beegood? The beekeeper association Mellifera e.V., it costs 35 euros per year and can also be given away. Registration and more information online.
