Bee people

Meet Andres Villegas, Ella Rose Shnapp and Michel Sluysmans, three beekeepers who are in it for the love of bees. Each practises bee-first beekeeping, putting the welfare of their hives before profit and commercialism.

Andres

Andres heads out early morning to check on his honeycomb, which is a hexagonal wax structure made by the bees to store eggs or, in this case, honey. Today he’s left Tana sleeping at home, though normally his beloved dog accompanies him to work.

His artisanal company Honey by the Sea is just that – a whole lot of hives in picturesque spots around Matakana, Leigh and Pakiri, all with different but splendid views of the sea. Though Andres comes from a science background and worked for three years for a larger commercial beekeeping company, he now enjoys his flexible outdoor lifestyle and the freedom to beekeep how he sees fit.

When Andres worked for the large firm he wore a beekeeper suit but was encouraged to work with his bare hands, which he admits took a bit of getting used to. Over the years as he’s become more confident, he has pretty much discarded the suit. It sits in the back of the truck (just in case) with his surfboard (also just in case).

Andres’ relaxed nature is reflected in the way he works with his hives, and in the calm nature of his bees. He says being a bare-hand beekeeper (and mostly a suit-free beekeeper) is not about showing off. It’s about having a calm approach, feeling gratitude, respecting the bees and the environment, and enjoying the process. He says his job is about nurturing, understanding and embracing the bees.

Andres puffs a little smoke at the beehive’s entrance before slowly opening the lid. He wedges his metal hive tool, an essential multi-purpose tool for beekeepers, between the honey frames and carefully pulls out a heavy frame, laden with pure, fresh honey.

“You have to be slow to be gentle,” he says as he lifts honeycomb from the hive. “If you are more gentle you build up a relationship with the bees, which I think is even reflected in the product.”

Andres isn’t interested in overexpanding his business, he’s focused on quality, not quantity. He embraces the idea of seasonal honey, aiming to highlight the differences in his products. He’s just brought out a honeygar, his manuka honey combined with organic apple cider vinegar. “It’s old-school medicine made delicious.”

Andres takes some honeycomb home to enjoy with his partner, Pamela. He begins to chop the honeycomb up, simply by placing it on a chopping board and slicing it with a kitchen knife. He smiles broadly as he cuts the comb, then shares it with her. “I think it tastes better coming from a happy hive,” she says, with a mouthful of the golden deliciousness.

Ella Rose

Ella Rose may just be the most passionate urban beekeeper in New Zealand. She facilitates The Bee School with For the Love of Bees, teaching people a beesbefore-profit way to care for bees and the environment in which they live. At her flat in Grey Lynn, Auckland, she brews up a pot of homegrown calendula flower tea, while her favourite chicken Lucille clucks loudly in the backyard, where Ella Rose’s two hives are found.

Ella Rose has had her own hives for four seasons now (two seasons in New Zealand) and incredibly has never once been stung by her own bees.

Outside in her organic, pesticide- and glyphosate-free garden, she opens up one of her beehives, which is almost as tall as she is, with four of the six boxes laden with fresh honey. Ella Rose says working with the bees is like a meditation, and she continually learns from them. “I have learned so much from the inner workings of a colony, in terms of how we can work together as people. The more I’m inside a hive, the more I learn about a really cool matriarchal society,” she says.