A beekeeper is “taming bees” in Moldova

This is a story of a young engineer from Causeni who was always pushing to modernize beekeeping.

Being inspired by models used by his peers in Canada and USA, he has designed the beehives at the computer. The honey is extracted with an automatic device. This innovative approach to such a traditional activity as the beekeeping is, has been possible thanks to a grant provided by the European Union.

With European money, Adrian has purchased the necessary equipment for timber beehives which he has made himself, honey extraction machines and tens of families of bees.

“The beehives I made help us facilitate maintenance and development works for the bee families. In winter we may unite several beehives together on special palettes, and this helps us preserve heat better”, says the young man.

Now, Adrian’s apiary has over 100 beehives. He is most proud of the ones made of polystyrene, a material which substitutes wood and assures more honey.

To enhance productivity, he also practices the so-called pastoral, which is transporting the beehives between harvesting times to blooming plants areas.

In autumn, the bees are transported into Adrian’s grand-grandparents’ yard. It was his grandfather, who taught him about all little tricks of the craft.

Last year Adrian sold his production to Germany and Austria, while the products made this summer will be exported to Italy. He will also sell wax and sunflower honey to a foreign company which manufactures cosmetic products.

Honey producers from the left of the Nistru River use Adrian’s services. “We are wax producers, which is highly demanded by many farmers from the left bank of the Nistru”, Adrian notes.

After almost two years, the young entrepreneur admits to have achieved his goal, but he would not stop here. To modernize even more his apiary, he dreams of manufacturing beehives from polyurethane, a material that would help him increase honey production even more.

“First of all, it has a longer life, assures better thermal insulation, is easy for maintenance, while honey production in such beehives is much higher than in traditional ones”, Adrian explains the advantages of the new technology.

And since beekeeping is a seasonal activity, Adrian and his brother Sergiu Gritco develop beekeeping related businesses, such as beehives’ manufacturing, so that they have work all year round.

Thus, in spring and summer they are busy at the apiary, while during the cold period they manufacture beehives in a workshop improvised in the garage of their parents. To their joy, orders are placed from all over the country, while the demand is higher and higher.

Adrian Gritcan is one of 70 young persons from both banks of the Nistru river who has obtained European grants of up to 13,500 euro for establishing or developing a business in the framework of the EU-funded “Support of Confidence Building Measures” Programme, implemented by the UNDP.