Our journey begins at the train station, where you can leave your car if you arrive with it. The first lookout tower we will visit is called Na Signálu. The name of the lookout tower is clear. It is located at the top of Signál in the Podorlická Highlands. A red tourist trail leading through the train station will take you there. Along this path, there is also an educational trail called Man, Look Around You, which introduces hikers to the fauna and flora of the forest. At Signál, there is a gazebo where you can have a snack from home. From Signál, you will follow the yellow trail towards Hronov. Along the way, you will find informative signs from the aforementioned educational trail, and you will also walk a bit along the Czech Trail. At the end of Žďárky, you will turn left off the Czech Trail and continue only along the cycling path towards the lookout tower Na Větrné horce. You will walk approximately 1500 meters and you will reach the lookout tower. After climbing to a height of about 18 meters, you will be rewarded with a view of the awakening spring landscape. From here, there is a beautiful view of the panorama of the Krkonoš Mountains, Broumovsko, the Adršpach Rocks, the Table Mountains in Poland, and the surroundings of Náchod. The way back will be along the path marked The Path of Dog Voříšek, which follows the red tourist trail. The name of the path is inspired by a fairy tale by Karel Čapek. Following this path will lead you to Hronov, where you can refresh yourself in local restaurants or enjoy coffee and pastries in local cafes. The red tourist trail will guide you back to your parked car. You will have covered 15 kilometers, visited 2 lookout towers, and experienced endless views.
Not far from Hronov is the famous Rokytník Bee Farm. Mrs. Simona Adamcová, the owner of the farm, will tell us about how the farm operates.
I started beekeeping in 2003, when we acquired the first 3 bee colonies as therapy for my dad, who was hit by a car while riding his bike. He lost his right arm, and the bees were supposed to be therapy for his broken psyche. However, things got a bit out of hand, and from the original three, we now have 300 colonies. I graduated from the Prague Conservatory and played the saxophone and clarinet. At the beginning, I knew nothing about bees, so I enrolled in a beekeeping school in Nasavrky and started learning about the life of bees. I also completed an internship at our largest bee farm in Moravia, and it became clear – I exchanged the world of spotlights and applause for a life in the community of bees. Today, I perceive it as us having the bees and them having us. We live somewhat together.
What made you, as a woman, decide to start a bee farm? I must admit that I imagine beekeepers more as men.
It occurred to my doctor, to whom I confided about that unfortunate accident, and on his advice, I got my first beehives as therapy for the garden of our house. But it wasn't as simple as the doctor said. The bees swarmed and flew to the neighbor's tree in the very first year, and I realized that I would have to learn how to take care of them. During my internship, where I worked all summer for food and accommodation and was present for all the work throughout the year, those bees enchanted me. That way of life with bees. When I left, I already knew that I would trade my love for music for a love of bees.
You keep an incredible 300 bee colonies. How long does it take you to harvest all the honey?
We extract honey gradually as it ripens. Bees carry the thin juice to the hives, they must thicken it, cap it, and only then is the honey ready for extraction. We only take the surplus; there always has to be enough food left in the hive for the bee community. For example, we extract flower honey for about ten days. Thanks to the machines, we have a large capacity and can extract up to 300 kg of honey per hour. During the season, there is an enormous amount of work that we have to complete in a short time, so we are technically equipped to ensure that the work runs smoothly and efficiently. The last forest honeys take longer to extract because we always have to replenish the sugar supplies for winter after the last honeys are extracted. But it's like with all the work here; as soon as you finish one task, another one begins. So we essentially work non-stop from April to October.
Do you do everything yourself or do you have some helpers?
I definitely couldn't manage it on my own. I have a boyfriend who works with me. He has enormous physical potential. He handles all the physically demanding work. He regularly strengthens his fitness by climbing the local sandstone rocks. And I am the heart of the breeding. I am responsible for the breeding of queens, creating splits, swarm control, marking queens, and all professional beekeeping tasks. Together, we function well. Sometimes our 13-year-old son comes to help us as well.
Your bee colonies are located in the magical Broumov landscape. Does that also influence the taste of the honey?
So unequivocally. I say that good honey is not made by me, but by my bees and especially the location where our bees are located. The Broumov region is absolutely magical in terms of the availability of foraging sources. Bees are directly dependent on what is present within a radius of 3 km. I choose our locations so that there are willows, maples, fruit trees, as well as meadows and pastures within flying distance. Fortunately, forested areas are all around and in them, there are forest raspberries and blackberries that give our honeys a delicious taste. Spruce stands are also a good source of so-called honeydew - a sweet juice excreted by aphids, which bees bring into the hives as forest honey. The absence of rapeseed fields and minimal intensive agriculture gives our honey an unmistakable colorful taste. Yes, the local landscape full of unmowed meadows and pastures under organic farming is the recipe for good honey.
Last year, you received the award for Rokytnický forest flower honey as Food and Food Producer of the Hradec Králové Region. What does this award mean to you?
Award means to us that we are on the right path. The fact that people enjoy our honey is a recognition that our work has a deeper meaning not only for us but also for our loyal customers. We really appreciate it. We are glad that even such a small Rokytník is now being sought out by many people on the map, and many people come to visit us.
Thanks to the location of your farm in the peaceful nature of Broumovsko, there is also the possibility of accommodation and the development of apitherapy. Have you ever thought about going in this direction as well?
She was thinking, various thoughts come to her mind. But the day has only 24 hours and when you work for 17 hours, sometimes you also have to sleep. So right now, it doesn't seem feasible time-wise.
What I managed to do in that rush, and for which I am proud, is that I turned a few people to the faith of beekeeping and made beekeepers out of some of our original customers. Although I lost them as customers, I found beekeeping friends in them. Sometimes it just takes listening to how demanding their professions are and that they lack an escape in their lives. And then, thanks to us, it happens that even a Boeing pilot or a brewery director ends up getting bees. We currently don't have the capacity to run apitherapy, but I believe that by creating splits (young bee colonies) and selling them to beginner beekeepers, we are spreading the healing power of bees further into other open hearts, where the bees will surely find their place...
You can purchase excellent Rokytnický honey directly at the store in Rokytník or visit the website www.rokytnikvcely.cz and there you will find a list of places that sell Rokytnický honey.