Apiary and workshop in Ahrensburg
Keep food fresh like grandma used to with home-made beeswax cloths.
Bee-keeping can be made eco-friendly by building an open, respectful relationship with the bees. The way in which they are kept is based on the natural needs and instincts of the bee colony. For that reason, the bees in Hansen Honig Manufaktur (honey workshop) build their own honeycombs (naturally built combs), and they multiply via their swarming instinct. No use is made of the common practice of artificial queen bee rearing. The integrity of the sensitive brood nest is preserved.
As the bees normally live off their own honey, only part of the honey is removed, and the bees are only fed in times of need. The hives are made of wood, a natural material. There are ten bee colonies in the Hansen garden – that’s between 100,000 and 500,000 bees. The strength of the colony depends on the season. In winter, there are approx. 10,000 bees, and in summer, when it’s a question of looking after the brood and preparing stores for winter, the colony's size increases dramatically and can reach as high as 50,000 bees.