Planet passionate people - a beekeeper from Balex Metal

A year ago, we established the first company apiary on the premises of Balex Metal production plant in Bolszewo. About 500,000 bees inhabited five black-and-red hives. This way, we wanted to support nature, of which bees are a very important element. Their situation is becoming difficult because the areas where they can live and work freely are regularly reduced, and the bees unfortunately die. Hence the idea was born, which has its further continuation.

After Bolszewo, the time has come for Tomaszów Mazowiecki. It was a pity not to use the natural field lawns surrounding this plant. It turned out, however, that the hives in Tomaszów are very special because among the employees of Balex Metal there is a person who interacts with bees daily. A long-time employee of the plant in Tomaszów Mazowiecki is a bee lover and owner of an apiary. You can talk to him about bees for hours. Łukasz, without hesitation, undertook to create and take care of the second apiary in our company.

Sustainable development - we think globally, acting locally

Placing hives in Balex Metal is an activity of our company as part of the Planet Passionate sustainable development program. In this way, we wanted to implement a project of global importance into local action. This initiative was unique from the very beginning - the idea of creating company hives came from one of our colleagues, Bartek, and the project met with great sympathy and interest from other employees.

We have already two apiaries in Balex Metal – on the premises of the production plant in Bolszewo and in Tomaszów Mazowiecki.

Starting our adventure with bees, we realized that there are more of us. As a producer of sandwich panels and thermal insulation with a PIR core, we have many customers who decide to implement construction investments using our products moreover for environmental reasons. Sandwich and thermal insulation panels are materials that have a significant impact on energy efficiency and building emissions reduction, and in many cases, savings of water used during construction. We were all the more positively surprised when it turned out that among our customers there are those who decided to put hives around their investments, like us.

The first honey harvest and more hives at Balex Metal

The bees from Bolszewo returned the favor, and we celebrated the first honey harvest - in every canteen and kitchen for Balex Metal employees, there were jars with the company's honey, which tastes double because there is also a lot of satisfaction in it.

Łukasz is a Maintenance Manager at the Balex Metal production plant on a daily basis. After working hours, he turns into a beekeeper. Now he will also perform this function in Balex Metal.

The project of the company's beehives has also received a unique continuation. This season, hives in Tomaszów Mazowiecki rose, and the keeper of this apiary is Łukasz Kunka, a long-time employee of Balex Metal. A beekeeper, a true nature enthusiast, who daily is the maintenance manager at the plant in Tomaszów, he talked to us about his work and his great passion.

Łukasz, how long have you been working at Balex Metal, and what do you do?

I have worked in Balex for almost 11 years as the Maintenance Manager in Tomaszów Mazowiecki.

What do you like most about your job?

Contact with people, the possibility of continuous development and improvement.

You have a unique hobby, beekeeping. Tell us a bit about it.

Four years ago, I established my first apiary starting with 4 Warsaw beehives. I bought them from an elderly, a very experienced beekeeper who was downsizing his apiary due to his advanced age. My oldest hive that I bought from him is from 1992. In small steps, I renovated the beehives and prepared them for bee colonies. I received my first bee family from a friend who brought them from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. Then I got a pair of stingers in my hand, and that's how my adventure with bees began :)

What is the most fun, rewarding thing about beekeeping for you?

Beekeeping is constant work and improvement throughout the year, from spring preparation of bees to honey harvesting, ensuring the right conditions for survival in summer, feeding, and treatment in autumn. I believe that beekeeping is an occupation that requires a lot of patience and passion, as well as continuous self-improvement. The great satisfaction for me is always the fact that bee colonies survived another year and are in good condition. And delicious honey, of course :) It is also communing with nature and breaking away from everyday matters.

You also became a Balex beekeeper. You built the company hives by yourself. How do your colleagues react to it?

Everyone reacts very positively, I get a lot of questions, and people are curious about this project.

Can you explain why it is so significant to support bees and build apiaries like those in Balex?

Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer bees. We should support them so that they can live and develop their families. There where bees live, there is a greater variety of the environment. Bees are pollinators, without which many plants, species of cultivated and medicinal plants, vegetables, or fruit trees could not develop, and we could not use their crops and benefits. It is hard to imagine there are no rapeseed, apples, or strawberries. Among insects, bees are the ones who have the greatest share in maintaining biodiversity. We should support them wisely and sustainably. Then the bees reciprocate with the benefits of nature, honey, propolis, or bee glue, which has health properties, and wax, of course.

What do you like most about bees?

Diligence and perseverance. These are the qualities without which it would be difficult even for us to achieve many things.

What's your favorite honey?

My favorite one is multiflorous honey. It has a distinctive, sweet aroma, which depends on the time of harvesting and the type of flowers blooming in the area. But each honey has great taste and many advantages. Its regular consumption strengthens immunity. It is strong support for our body in times of physical exhaustion. The simple sugars contained in honey are easily absorbed by our bodies and are a valuable source of energy. Each honey has many invaluable properties for our health.

Thanks to you, the apiary in Tomaszów was established this year. There is also an apiary in Bolszewo that has been operating for a year. Colleagues from Balex suggested that next season we can organize a tasting contest to see which honey is better, the one from Bolszewo or the one from Tomaszów. Are you taking up the gauntlet?

I think that each of us will judge differently which honey is better. Balex employees will decide 😊 But seriously, beekeeping is my great hobby and escape, the opportunity to do something interesting and satisfying. Maybe someone from the company will join this passion.