The week of love, honey & friendships

I have always loved honey but only a couple of years ago I truly started appreciating it. This happened partially because I worked with a forest resource management project in Zambia. I learned a lot about small-scale beekeeping as many small-scale farmers get additional income from beekeeping and honey harvesting. 

My interest in honey also grew through my husband who used to be a farmer. This is quite a coincidence as throughout history, honeybees have been associated with love! Saint Valentine is not only the patron of love and romance but the patron saint of beekeepers. He is said to ensure the sweetness of honey, and the protection of beekeepers.

Sunbird's founder Anton grew up on a wine grape farm outside of Cape Town. This afforded him the opportunity to learn about the natural world. At the farm he worked as a winemaker, before pursuing a degree in environmental science. Anton is fascinated by bees and he likes to photograph them as well. The Cape honeybee plays an important role in human lives as it is managed by beekeepers to allow for honey harvesting and to provide a pollination service to farmers of pollinator-dependent crops. 

More than a year ago, friends of ours asked if they could put their beehive in the garden of our holiday house. We said "of course" and since then these little creatures have been doing their magic. This weekend, which incidentally happens to be the weekend after Valentine's Day, we will go and collect the honey with our friends who are the beemasters! Homemade honey will go so nicely with organic and locally produced Sunbird Rooibos.

We will show you some photos this weekend!