The quarantine period inspired a beekeeper: He created a model beehive with accommodation for tourists

„Beekeeping for me is a lifestyle, it is a way of living every day. Beekeeping is not just about consuming or selling honey, it is the moment when you create a new queen, a new family and see her development, how she goes through a calendar year and gets fruit, you get involved as a beekeeper in her life, in nature, after which you get the product and recommend it”, says Vitalie Popa, a beekeeper in the third generation. 

He inherited his love for bees from his grandfather, and later from his father.

„There have always been bees in our family. Grandpa was the first person to fall in love with them, after which my father continued to practice this activity professionally. As a child, I was involved.

In 2002 I graduated from college and I was thinking about what to do to go abroad like most young people at that time or to launch an activity in the country. I decided to turn the family hobby into a thriving business. Here came the idea of creating the company Casa Albinei, which was born in my head as a name and as a concept. In 2004 we registered the company, now we are in the 17th year of activity”, says the beekeeper with pride. 

The first years of activity were difficult because although the apiary had more than 400 bee families, the market for honey produced was practically non-existent. 

The entrepreneur then decided to open his store in Chisinau to sell honey. In 2013, when the Association Agreement with the EU was signed, Moldova obtained the right to export honey, but in strict compliance with the requirements. It was a new breath for the beekeeping sector in the Republic of Moldova. „In 2013, Casa Albina participated with its products in the Apimondia exhibition in Kyiv, from which we returned with a gold medal, which proved once again that this activity has a perspective and must be developed. At that event, we established contacts with our Italian partner with whom we started working in 2014. Mutual visits followed, we presented our development idea, and they helped us financially in implementation. The processing section was created, we obtained an export authorization and since then we are present in wholesale exports on the EU market”, reports Vitalie Popa. 

With the increase in the volumes of honey exported, Casa Albinei also intensified the control over the quality of the product. Investments were made in a honey testing laboratory because the producer wanted to be sure that the honey is not contaminated and can be sold to the consumer. 

Vitalie Popa has been involved since 2018 in the export mentoring program on the EU market, implemented by the Association of Fruit Producers and Exporters Moldova Fructe and funded by the International Finance Corporation in the project: „Investment Climate Reform in the Republic of Moldova” in collaboration with the Dutch CBI Agency.

„Within the mentoring program, I benefited from studies, seminars with case studies. In 2019 I went on a study visit to Italy, then I went to a honey testing laboratory to see the new testing technologies, I saw beekeepers' associations, I analyzed the market, the supermarkets and I came to some conclusions.

At the same time, on a trip to a large shopping centre in Bologna, I saw a very nice idea: a manufacturers' shopping centre, where each processor next to the counter selling its products had a mini processing factory. Here came an idea, why we could not make such a presentation of our production sector for buyers, for tourists to see how honey is produced,” says Vitalie.

Hence the idea of ​​investing in beekeeping. At the beginning of 2020, when the pandemic started, having some forecasts that the year looks a bit bad, the entrepreneur decided to make the first investments in the tourist facilities. Thus, a model apiary was created, with accommodation, apitherapeutic and relaxation elements. 

„In the apiary, we aim to make a small beekeeping school, both for beginners and professionals. Casa Albinei aims to organize technological training seminars for advanced beekeepers, to present new technologies for obtaining products, and honey consumers, who want to see how this product is obtained, have the opportunity to participate in this process, including they should monitor how the honey is obtained”, informed the beekeeper.

Vitalie Popa says that through this activity Casa Albinei aims to stimulate the growth of honey consumption, but also to bring this product to the consumer not only as a sweetener but as a natural product with great benefits. The beekeeper wants to acquaint consumers with the world of bees, how important it is, how important it is to be close to nature, to protect it and to appreciate that natural product so that in the future you have a clientele of loyal consumers, nature lovers and bee products. 

„We are waiting for those who have respiratory, spinal, nervous system disorders to visit us - because apitherapy has long been known as a natural treatment remedy. In the apiary, we have specially arranged spaces where all those interested can try this type of therapy, under the hum of bees, under the smell of fresh nectar, to rest and recover after a period of increased physical or intellectual effort”, adds Vitalie Popa. 

In 2020, due to the pandemic, Casa Albinei did not receive tourists but hopes to open its doors to visitors in March this year. The beehive has located 10 km from Chisinau, in the village of Hulboaca. For more details, you can access casaalbinei.md.

The article was written by Luminița Crivoi and published on February 16, 2021 on the website agrobiznes.md.