The thing is, we love our trees. The Speckbirn pear trees, the Gelbmöstler, the Williams, the Conference pear – all of them, really. The Farthofer orchards are a paradise of diversity. The only trouble is, trees can't quite manage pollination on their own. Apple and pear trees aren't self-fertile. They need messengers. Carriers to transport pollen from one blossom to another. That job falls to bumblebees and bees – and they do it brilliantly. Reason enough for us to give these tireless fliers a home. Come spring, colonies of bees take up residence in our orchards.
For us, it's above all about species protection. Few species are under as much pressure right now as the bee. It's about diversity, because we want vitality and vibrancy – life, in other words – in our orchards. And it's about the natural pollination of blossoms.
A message to policymakers
It's also a political statement. On 22 March, the European Commission – and not for the first time – postponed the vote on a general ban on the outdoor use of highly toxic neonicotinoids. This despite broad expert consensus that these pesticides pose a serious threat to pollinators such as bees and butterflies. A clear overview of the issue can be found here.
The topic also fascinates us on a sensory level. Honey has always captivated us. As a child, Josef Farthofer would have chosen a slice of bread with honey over one with chocolate-hazelnut spread a thousand times out of a thousand. Later, as a trained nose, he was always a little frustrated when someone claimed to detect "honey notes" in a spirit. Which ones, exactly? Blossom honey – and if so, from which flower? Forest honey – from which tree, which shrub? If that sounds excessive to you, try nosing a glass of O-Rum. Or a glass of Mostello. You'll be amazed at just how many facets of honey reveal themselves.
Bee books for bookworms
A Farthofer honey won't be appearing anytime soon, though. Our hearts beat for distilling, and – to use a familiar saying – we believe in sticking to what we know best. But bees keep us thinking. So here, alongside those two glasses of rum and Mostello, are two reading recommendations. From Alison Benjamin and Brian McCallum comes a compelling book: A World Without Bees (published by Guardian Books). It explores exactly the issues that led us to decide to bring bees into our orchards: bee diseases spreading to epidemic proportions, shrinking biodiversity and the corresponding loss of genetic diversity, pesticide attacks, and the consequences of industrialised pollination. These are things we want to push back against. The second recommendation is the complete opposite – a novel. A beautiful story of three families, spread across three centuries, bound together by the history of bees. It's fittingly titled The History of Bees, by Maja Lunde (yes, that really is her name 😉).
We're very much looking forward to the great summer hum.
