About us
Our background
Behind Vicus Apis is a young family that emigrated from the Netherlands to Hungary. We have chosen to change our Dutch life for rural life in Hungary. The road to get here was full of obstacles, temptations and disillusions. Ultimately, we managed to achieve our goal and we feel at home in our new environment. Our social media channels give you a clear picture of the beautiful environment that we now call home.
Potential
The region where we live, the Mecsek Mountains, has a lot of potential for beekeeping. This region supplies very high quality honey. Together with our shared experience we have decided to combine our work, passion and knowledge through a beekeeping business combined with a webshop. While developing our business plan, we got to know the commercial honey world. As hobby beekeepers and nature lovers, we were quite shocked by this.
Supply and demand
We were shocked by the prices offered by importers and wholesalers. These are so low that the beekeeper, honey bee and local flora are put under financial pressure. An organism so important should be approached, not only from a profitable point of view, but also from a rational point of view. The prices are determined by supply and demand. Potential consequences for our ecosystem are ignored. A pattern that we unfortunately see in all sectors worldwide. Besides low prices for the producer, the prices for the consumer are still substantial, while the background and quality of the honey disappears in a mixture of European and Chinese honey.
Consequences
Every beekeeper's attitude should be: "Keeping healthy, resilient bee colonies that collect a surplus of honey which we can harvest." Due to the financial pressure many colleagues experience, this attitude has changed into: "How do I harvest as much honey as possible with the least possible costs and risks." As a result, our society treats the honey bee, a crucial building block of our society and ecosystem, as a disposable product. The consequences are visible worldwide, some examples are the spread of: Varroa Destructer, hive beetles, American foulbrood, CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) and the Africanized honey bee.
So, how crucial are honey bees to our society and our ecosystem? The Earthwatch Institute has identified honey bees as the most important living organisms on the planet. It is unbelievable that we, as a society, treat a crucial being so irresponsibly.
Our solution
Fair prices for beekeepers and working with small-scale local beekeepers. To prevent prices from rising enormously, we ensure that there are less parties between beekeeper and consumer. In this way, the beekeeper receives fair compensation and can invest in an ecologically responsible beekeeping business. This is how the concept of Vicus Apis was created. Not as a goal, but in our eyes out of necessity. A direct connection between producer and consumer and clarity about the origin of the product. This creates more understanding and respect for the honey bee and makes us act with more responsibility and respect towards a building block of society and ecosystem.
In practice
This sounds fairly straightforward. However, it is not so simple. All parties that we remove between the producer and consumer fulfill a role. We have to do all these tasks ourselves and not with a large team, but only with two people. However, this is also a characteristic of Vicus Apis. We are a family business and what we offer is personal. The honey we sell is not only fair, sustainable and affordable, but also a result of the hard work and dedication of two young people. We are Vicus Apis.
Team Vicus Apis.