Russia's Largest Beekeeping Site in Sochi

The city of Sochi is located at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains on the Black Sea coast. It's one of the most popular Russian resorts. The president of Russia has his summer residence here. But for Doctor of Agricultural Science Sergey Sokolsky, the Caucasus first of all is the home of grey-coloured Caucasian bees. Sergey is head of a bee farm in Krasnaya Polyana. He has 45 bee colonies and nearly 200 employees. "This is the area near Monastyr village. There are three apiaries here. From this point you can see the Krasnaya Polyana mountain range, as well as apiaries of Krasnaya Polyana and Aibga villages. And this is the Kudepsta watershed and there are also several apiaries. Farther down is the Matsesta watershed and Matsesta village itself. All in all, there are forty-five apiaries scattered across a vast territory and they are all set at various levels." The bee colonies, or apiaries, are run by Sergey Sokolsky and are mainly his scientific research sites. It's a gene pool of species of the best Caucasus bees. From them the scientists bred a new subspecies of the grey-coloured Caucasus bee named the Krasnaya Polyana bee. This superior hybrid was created from several species. The character of Krasnaya Polyana bees is that they rarely sting. "It's not aggressive at all. It's grey, young and inexperienced." The bee has the longest proboscis, which is over seven millimeters long. "On a nice and sunny day these young queen bees will leave their hives. The newly hatched queens are pursued in the air during nuptial flight by male bees trying to mate with them." All of the bee colonies are located in gorges. The mountains prevent other bees from flying into this area and spoiling the breed. 600 meters in the air the queen bees are impregnated by up to ten males. A few days later it will start laying eggs, which will hatch the larvae of future queen bees. "Here are queen cells where our queen bees are bred. This cell contains a mature queen bee, and it will leave it two days time. It cracks the cell by herself and soon comes out." Normally, a queen bee produces her best offspring in the first three years of her life. On average they live from five to six years. But worker bees die quickly. They last for just one month during honey gathering season. The bees cover the distance of nearly 3 kilometers just to bring 40 millimeters of honey nectar to the hive. The beekeepers have to weigh the amount of the honey, which is produced every day. "The distance between the bee colonies is from five to some kilometers, but I have to check them all. I have to drive quite a lot." These colonies are mainly used to breed bees, but they also produce honey. Recently beekeepers started to sell a new product -- chunks of honey comb. Sergey always discusses the production process in all fine detail with his staff. "We cut out the comb, then cover it with food plastic bag or waxed cardboard, wrap it with clean film, and ship it to outlets. I think it's a good idea!" Beekeepers Olesya Bryabina and her husband Oleg take care of the this entire bee colony. Olesya is now collecting royal jelly, a thick white substance which is fed to the bee larvae. It's the most precious and expensive byproduct. Royal jelly is considered to be good for increasing immunity of human body. The couple lives on ground all year round. The nearest village is three kilometers away. One of the mountain bee colonies only accessible on foot. The rivers do not freeze over in the winter and do not get dry even in the hottest summer. Nearby is a glacier. The bee colonies are located near the Krasnaya Polyana ski resort. Beekeeper Aleksey Kravchuk is preparing the family of bees sent away. The customer will receive the precious cargo in a plywood chest used for ordinary parcels. At first glance it appears the bees can survive on their own and that beekeepers don't really have that much to do. However, they need to be supervised at all times including the winter. They are supposed to be given food and water. In winter the hives are regularly cleaned of snow, to stop the bees suffocate. A normal working day starts at dawn and ends at sun set. Beekeepers say that tea with honey is best to recover one's strength. "It is certainly a tough job. You have to bring the hive, food, salt and fuel. It is good that some hives have electricity, but some have none though. There has been so much snow fall that we had to walk seven kilometers from morning till night. Several people had to create the path to a bee colony, which had no other access." The breeding of grey Caucasus bees is the main scientific work at the experimental station run by Sergey Sokolsky. The boxes containing families of bees and queen bees are sent to a laboratory. Here each one is checked thoroughly. "How are the things going? Are the queen bees okay?" "The quality is good." "These queen bees are excellent!" The Krasnaya Polyana apiaries produce 25 thousand queen bees a year, each one costs on average 10 thousand US dollars. This is the main source of income. Each box must contain a queen bee -- marked with a white spot -- and several worker bees. They should also have enough feed for the queen bee. They are exported to France, Germany, Israel and South Korea. The owners of small bee colonies, even though located in remote areas, go to the experimental station to buy more stock. Galina Kuleshova has traveled from Ukraine and she has been sourcing queen bees from Sergey Sokolsky for several years. "I have come to collect these bees because they are industrious, kind, and hard working and yield a lot of honey -- more than our Ukrainian ones. And they are not malicious -- they can crawl on your hands without stinging. As for ours, if one lands on you it is sure to sting." "Here you are -- your queen bees. And you have the documents." During his spare time Sergey makes hives for his own bee colony. "I am fond of working with wood, just its smell is worth it. It's my pleasure to work. I adjust it so that the bees feel comfortable and that there is no draught. It should be so that I could modify it, say, by moving the frames. So, you see, it moves with difficulty, I have to shorten it." The hives designed by Sergey slowly start to appear on the farm. Tourists often visit the bee farms. Sergey can tell about the life of the bee-family for hours on end. "In this display hive you see a family of the grey Caucasus mountain breed. This bee is unique because of its many qualities. First of all, it's bee with the longest proboscis in the world." Honey production makes up about 10 per cent of the total income of the farm. However, it is a tradition that all of Sergey visitors taste the treats the honey. A tasting procedure is not only traditional hospitality but also an efficient way of advertising. Sergey Sokolsky's honey is one of the most popular souvenirs in Krasnaya Polyana. White honey made from the lime -tree pollen, as well as that made from chestnut or acacia, it is a must for herbal tea made and pancakes. Russian soft drinks are made on the farm using old recipes. They are called sbiten and medovukha. Sergey Sokolsky's country house is high up in the mountains. In summer it is cooler than the Sochi seaside resort. Sergey and his wife Tatyana like to spend their spare time here. The scientist considers only a change of activity as a proper rest. In his study Sergey has concentrated everything on entertainment: a large library, a music centre and a computer. The doctor of agriculture science has been fond of studying history, ancient languages and religions for many years. "This knowledge lets man expand his consciousness and have a deeper insight into the ongoing processes, disregarding what I am, either a beekeeper, cattle-breeder, spaceman, physicist or musician. It's a must that we expand our consciousness, we have no other path if we want to live in happiness, joy and creation." Music is another of Sergey's passions. His record collection is mainly classical and jazz. He developed a liking for it in his childhood. He even graduated from a choreography school and danced in the Saratov Opera Theatre. Chaikovsky's Nutcracker is one of the beekeeper's favourite pieces. "Hello, good day." Is it urgent, right, Sergey Sergeyevich? Yes, it's urgent. They should be bought by tomorrow." Sergey Sokolsky has been a beekeeper at Krasnaya Polyana for 30 years. Now, a doctor of agricultural sciences, he is in charge of the scientific research and production at the station. But he still considers himself to be first and foremost a beekeeper. "A beekeeper has a peculiar life. He merges with Nature, he wakes up at dawn -- but not everyone sees this. And they also see the sun set. And the morning or evening hours when the sun is not so hot are the best hours and they are full of joy for me, that is for sure." The Krasnaya Polyana beekeeping station is the largest in Russia. Ten thousand families of bees live here, it's nearly one hundred million bees. Jokingly or seriously, the scientist likes to tell tourists that mankind's ancestors are bees.