The visit of the President of the International Federation of Beekeeping Associations, Mr.Gilles Ratia, to the apiary “Honey fields”

The President of the International Federation of Beekeeping Associations, Mr.Gilles Ratia, the President of the Organizing Committee of the XXXXIII International Apicultural Congress, Mrs. Tetiana Vasylkivska, and the Presidentof the Regional Commission of Okeania, Ms. Maureen Maxwell visited the apiary “Honey fields” on 15 April 2013 within the framework of his visit to Ukraine aimed at the inspection of the preparation stage of the XXXXIII International Apicultural Congress.

The apiary “Honey fields” is located near a small picturesque village Grebinky, Kyiv Oblast, close to a big pond Protoky. It is headed by Mr. Viktor Vasyliovych Yatsenko, the beekeeper, who’s been working in apiculture for 10 years. ”Honey Fields” is family business established by Mr. Yatsenko and his wife Mrs. Olena Viktorivna Yatsenko. Parent’s passion for beekeeping was adopted by their children. As per moment Mr. and Mrs. Yatsenkos' daughter, Ms. Anatasia Yatsenko, is working as a lector in the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. The son is bee queen breeder at father’s apiary.

”Honey Fields” was created practically on the bare place. When the family bought the land there was nothing there. Today the apiary has a big house, the premises for making the beehives and the spot with 200 beehives. The apiary has a bee breeding facility status meaning it has the right to breed bee queens and sell out the bee families. The species bred here is Ukrainian Steppe Honey Bee.

Mr. President inspected the apiary and the beehive spot and had a very interesting comprehensive conversation with Mr. Oleksandr Yatsenko, the son of Mr. Viktor Yatsenko, about bee queen breeding, its regional peculiarities and secrets.

Mr. Ratia and Ms. Maureen were impressed by the hospitality of the family, by the apiary, its organization and the high criteria applied by Mr. Oleksandr Yatsenko in his work on bee queen breeding. This was an exceptionally pleasant and interesting evening for all the participants.