AGRANA bees at the Gleisdorf site
At the Gleisdorf site, our passionate and above all very young beekeeper Thomas Reif looks after the AGRANA bees. He tells how he came to work and what he particularly likes about it:
My name is Thomas Reif, I am 24 years old and I look after the AGRANA apiary as an organic beekeeper at the Gleisdorf site.
As a child I liked to help in my parents' organic fruit farm and in our small apiary, and so my interest in the fascinating world of bees developed early on.
After graduating from the HTL Weiz, I completed the training to become a professional organic beekeeper at the Styrian beekeeping school.
In 2020, I took over the beekeeping from my father and currently manage a total of 80 bee colonies.
Beekeeping is a wonderful balance to my technical profession and has become my great passion.
The first honey bee workshop for children took place on 11 July and it was a complete success!
Together with beekeeper Thomas Reif, we were able to familiarise the children with the world of honey bees. Wearing beekeepers' hats and veils, the children ventured to the show hive, where they scraped off (uncovered) the honeycombs, extracted honey and tasted different types of honey. In the afternoon, after a short break for a snack, they continued their tour. The programme included a quiz about honey bees, followed by wax candle making and, last but not least, honey label design. All of the children's drawings can be found on this year's honey label as a thank you.