About me
From a village with centuries of beekeeping tradition to a certified beekeeper in Bergen who practices natural beekeeping — the story of how bees became my life.
The sound that started everything
Since childhood, the sound of bees has been music to me. In Obora, the village in Moravia where I grew up, the trees hummed when they were in bloom, and the linden in front of our family home would fill with bees when it flowered. That sound still gladdens my soul today — and it is the reason I do what I do.
Roots in Obora
Obora was founded in 1360, and its coat of arms bears a honeycomb and a tree. Beekeeping has been part of the village since time immemorial. I was surrounded by it before I understood it: the local cooperative Včelpo Obora supplied the honey for my kindergarten, and my very first bee sting happened on the village playground.
The teacher
In 2010, Obora celebrated its 650th anniversary. It was there that I met Josef Stejskal from Hutě — the most experienced beekeeper I had ever known, and, as it happens, a distant relative of mine. He took me to his apiary and taught me the craft hands-on, passing down knowledge kept alive across generations. He taught me to work calmly and gently with the bees — so calmly that I often tend them without any protective suit at all. Because he is family, I can truly say I learned the foundations of beekeeping within my own family. I have been a beekeeper ever since.
A tradition on both sides
Beekeeping runs deep in my family. My great-grandfather kept bees in Voděrady u Kunštátu. My wife’s grandfather kept bees in Ukraine — and his tradition lives on in the Ukrainian horizontal hives I build with my own hands today. I never met them; they passed before my time. But through Josef Stejskal, and through the hives I build, both family lines come together in what I do.
From a lecture hall to a calling
My path took an academic turn when I heard doc. Ing. Antonín Přidal, Ph.D. lecture on the Varroa mite at a beekeepers’ meeting in Boskovice. I was so captivated that I arranged to study under his guidance at Mendel University in Brno, where I completed the course Beekeeping and Bee Product Processing. Doc. Přidal is one of Central Europe’s foremost experts on Varroa destructor, and I am proud to be his student.
Beekeeping in Bergen
Today I keep bees in Bergen, where I am a certified beekeeper. I build my own hives from wood — including Ukrainian horizontal hives and the insulated wooden Gregor-type hive. That hive was originally made by my friend Jan Gregor, from whom I took over the craft and received permission to continue making them; for rainy Bergen, the outer shell is additionally protected against water. I follow natural-beekeeping methods where I can: I let the bees build as they wish, and I make sure they keep enough honey to eat and to winter on. I aim to let them winter on honey; I supplement with sugar only when a colony does not have sufficient stores. I only take honey once a colony’s own winter stores are secure.
I currently tend five colonies, and I keep building more hives. People have already started reaching out because they are interested in my hives.
Why I do this
I am not building a honey business. I am building a biological reserve — healthy, chemical-free colonies kept outside the commercial system and preserved for the generations who come after us. And I want to bring bees back into our cities, so that one day, walking past a blossoming tree, you will hear them too.
Want to collaborate, ask about my hives, or simply talk about bees? Get in touch — I’ll be glad to hear from you.