A golden apiary!

November 2018

By Nicolas Freyre, Head Gardener

The Société d’Apiculture Romande (SAR – Society of Romandie Beekeepers) holds an apiary competition in the Geneva region every five years. We viewed the 2018 edition of the competition as a unique opportunity to assess the quality of our beekeeping, so we entered. An exceptional apiary merited an exceptional result: the GOLD medal!

For quality beekeeping

According to the statutes, the aim of the competition is to promote beekeeping and develop sound apicultural practices. Entrants submit their work and know-how to a jury of three experts. The assessment covers all aspects of beekeeping. The jury pays two visits to the apiary: the first in the spring, when the colonies start to grow, and the second in summer when they are in full swing.

A comprehensive assessment of honey production conditions

Once on site, the experts look at the general management of the apiary, its orientation, the quality of the construction of the hives, the vitality and behaviour of the colonies, the marking of the queen, and the hygiene of the apiary. The jury also inspects the honey house to check the sanitary conditions during the extraction, packaging and storage of the honey. Finally, the beekeeper has to complete a questionnaire to check his or her theoretical knowledge concerning, for instance, the biology of the bee, identification of the main parasites and the various techniques of nucleus breeding.

The gold medal: real recognition

Following this long evaluation process, we were exceptionally proud to be singled out for the highly coveted gold medal! The main credit goes to our beekeeper, Christian Jenny He worked as a beekeeper’s assistant for a number of years before finally assuming sole responsibility for the Botanical Garden’s apiary in early 2017. He has managed to develop this magnificent apiary and produces superb quality organic honey alongside his horticultural activities!

Organic honey produced at the CJBG

Christian also breeds queens and conducts professional visits several times a year. This medal comes as a reward for his work and gives prominence to our 15 hives, which are kept according to the principles of organic beekeeping. The award is also recognition of the efforts made over the years to achieve excellence, including the manufacture of large and small beehives by our carpenter, the creation of a honey house that complies with sanitary standards, and the procurement of melter and steriliser equipment to produce our own wax foundation.

CJBG honey is on sale in the Botanic Shop.