summer blossom honey
Miel Goutte d'Or
You are too late to adopt a beehive from this Farmer. Check out the other projects.
The project
Adopt a beehive from the apiary "Miel Goutte d'Or" in Vernantes (France) and receive your harvest in the form of summer blossom honey at home. The Farmer Louis will take care of your adoption and take its picture. Also, you will be able to download the adoption certificate and, if you wish, plan your visit to the farm. As the production coming from one beehive is big, the adoption is shared among various people. If you wish to have a bigger share, you may adopt more than once.
What do you adopt?
Species: Apis mellifera Buckfast, a particularly resistant species that appeared at the beginning of the last century, prolific and not very aggressive.
Our hives flourish in Dadant Hives, containing an average of 50,000 bees at harvest time. This type of hive is the most widely used in Europe because of its ease of use and the protection it offers to the bees. Its particular characteristic is that it separates the living space of the bees from the storage space of the production.
The production of a hive makes it possible to obtain 32 kg of the different honeys present in the crate that you will receive and harvested as the season progresses. The adoption of a hive will be shared between 10 CrowdFarmers
Out of respect for the bees and their work, we only harvest the excess honey, on average 12 to 15 kg of honey per harvest and we do not practice transhumance (migratory beekeeping). We strive to separate our apiaries and limit the number of hives per apiary in order to avoid overexploitation of a place and to recover the floral diversity of our land.
What will you receive?
The box we will send you contains:
2 x Liquid Forest Honey (500g jar)
Harvested in mid-August, the later flowering of oak, chestnut and bramble are added to the melliferous flora as well as the honeydew harvest by the bees. This will give a very fragrant honey, well balanced and persistent, woody and slightly acidic.
2 x Chestnut Honey / Bramble (500g jar)
Chestnut honey is surely one of the most appreciated by honey lovers. Full-bodied and powerful in taste, it has a persistent woody aroma that is slightly bitter, before giving way to a softer and more subtle bramble with hints of underbrush. It is a real walk in the forest after a heavy summer rain.
Naturally, raw honey will evolve over time, it is a living product that crystallizes. Crystallization depends on the floral composition, storage temperature and time. If you prefer, keep it in a warm room (or use the water bath method) and vice versa if you like the crystalline texture.
When will you receive it?
Please, check the deadline for participating in this project (deadline for adoption) below. As of this date the Farmer will start preparing the orders that are to be shipped.
You may select the delivery date of your box as suggested by the Farmer at check-out.
Why should you adopt?
* Learn who produces your food, how and where. Receive your food in a conscious manner.
* Buy directly from the farmer. Help to generate wealth and better jobs in the rural areas.
* Plan ahead and enable the Farmer to produce on demand. This way we can avoid overproduction and fight food waste.
* Reward Farmers who make an effort to use environmentally-friendly packaging and cultivation techniques.
Farmer 360
Fresh and in season
How does it work?
Meet the Farmers
Adopt and plan your harvest
Let the Farmer and nature work
Receive your harvest at home
Farmer 360
Young Farmer
Small Farm
Visitors welcome
Louis Lelias
It all began with my great-grandfather's passion for beekeeping, passed on to his grandson (my father) at an early age. Who, after twenty years of working in Paris in luxury hotels, has decided to return to a more natural way of life, which has been impacted by the fascinating lifestyle of bees for 25 years now.
Today history repeats itself with me. From an early age, I was lucky enough to be able to train my palate in top-of-the-range natural honeys.
After careful consideration, combined with a desire to return to the roots and the urge to pass on this knowledge of traditional beekeeping, it became obvious to me that we should take up the family business again. I wanted to continue to produce natural local honeys in conditions that respected bees and the environment.
All the important stages of production (swarming, harvesting, extraction, filtration and packaging) are carried out in a traditional way using modern beekeeping techniques (late 19th century). Never heated or processed and well preserved, this results in a raw honey that retains all its flavor and nutritional qualities.
*(Never heated above 40°C is equivalent to the temperature of the hive, no alteration of the product.)*
Louis Lelias
"The memories of my first spoonful of honey at 5 years old, my first bee sting at 7 years old and my first harvest at 15 years old are all emotionally charged. Subsequently, through my biological studies, I learned the essential role of the bee in our ecosystem and in the evolution of biodiversity, but also honey’s role in the evolution of our society."
Miel Goutte d'Or
Miel Goutte d'Or
Our hives have been located on the edge of the forest of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Natural Park for 25 years, near Vernantes 49390 where the family honey farm is located.
Our Anjou livestock is divided into 6 apiaries, separated by several kilometers from each other. All are located on the edge of the forest of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Natural Park, as far away from intensive farming as possible. Each apiary is composed of a maximum of 20 hives in order to respect bees and safeguard biodiversity. It is precisely this biodiversity that honours our polyfloral honeys because the floral composition represented is decisive from a flavor point of view, it represents our homeland.
This exceptional place allows us to produce different types of honeys (Acacia, Ronce, Chestnut, Buckwheat, Heather, Honeydew, Spring and Forest) without having to resort to hive transhumance, only the weather and the health of our bees determine our annual production.
Technical information
Address
Miel Goutte d'Or, Vernantes, FR
Altitude
58m
Team
2 men
Cultivation technique
Modern artisanal beekeeping
Location