The honey harvest at Spolana is the golden peak of the year-long efforts of local beekeepers. Frames with honey are taken out of the beehives, then the honey itself is extracted by means of a honey extractor, and finally the product is bottled. “Successful beekeeping shows that the environment at the Spolana chemical plant is improving each year. This is also attested to by the fact that the honey collected along the Elbe annually wins a gold medal in the Czech Honey competition. I hope that this will also be the case this year, but we will learn the results only in the autumn. The significance of bees is not only related to producing honey and other substances. Bees also pollinate agricultural crops and free-growing vegetation, and the quality of honey speaks to the quality of the environment not only at the site, but also in its immediate vicinity,” says Spolana executive officer Miroslav Falta, commenting on the positive impacts of beekeeping. He adds that the company uses the resulting jars of honey mostly as presents for corporate partners and business visitors.

Thanks to the Elbe River, there is diverse fauna and flora in the vicinity of Spolana Neratovice. The idea to keep honeybees at the location of the site’s original chocolate and saccharine production facility was quickly adopted in 2018. “Now we take care of ten bee colonies, and, compared to last year, this year’s harvest was significantly better – the vegetation close to the beehives is thriving in the fine, sunny weather. We harvested more than 80 kilograms of honey, and this only from some colonies, which is 20 kilograms more than last year,” beams Lukáš Karlík, head of power engineering and water management at Spolana and enthusiastic beekeeper.

Each year, the honey harvest is attended by children from primary schools in the vicinity. This year, the company invited pupils from the primary school in Kostelec nad Labem and provided them with information about the environment by means of an untraditional experience. The children were able to paint the boxes that the beekeepers then use to assemble a beehive. Along with the beekeepers, the Kralupy nad Vltavou Ecological Centre also prepared a programme for the pupils. “Children made a queen-bee mask and tried to correctly put together the individual parts of a bee’s body. They were also able to make flower-pot sticks and beeswax candles. They were rewarded with workbooks on topics from the life of bees,” says Ecological Centre head Martina Černá in conclusion.

Contact details: Pavel Kaidl, spokesperson, telephone: +420 736 502 520, email: pavel.kaidl@orlenunipetrol.cz