Under the patronage of Michelin-starred chef Michel Bras, The National Union of Beekeepers of France has just rewarded the best honey producers in the country during its 3rd fair which was held at the end of January in Paris. Among the gold medalists: Jérémie Saint Paul, rewarded for its acacia honey.
This 36-year-old Landais man did not imagine that he would be so quick to succeed that he, at the start, as he confesses, hated bees: “When I was a child, I took my legs around my neck when I saw a hive. I was really afraid of being stung. I even think that I did not eat a spoonful of honey at my parents’ place. “
“Little by little I discovered this extraordinary world”
In his village of Souprosse, in the heart of the Landes forest, Jérémie Saint Paul intended to become a pruner and a lumberjack. But when a tree falls, he seriously injures his knee. “Death in my soul I tried to find something else,” he explains. And I started to work as a subcontractor for Orange. But my knee prevented me from working normally with a vehicle and making interventions with clients had become impossible for me so I stopped to be operated again. “
It was at this time that he met a passionate friend of bees: “He convinced me to document myself so that I might become a beekeeper. I did not believe it too much and then, little by little, I discovered this extraordinary world of bees. My fear is gone and I decided to try my luck. “
Disastrous first steps
Jérémie Saint Paul recognizes that his first steps in the beekeeping profession were disastrous. “I lost a lot of bees and even a queen. But I hung on and after an internship in an apiary school, I started to understand. Or rather to understand them. I went from three hives in 2010 to 130 today and my goal is to have 150. This represents millions of bees! “
For the beekeeper, the secret to making good honey lies in respecting the pace of life of the bees. “At the end of winter, I had a tendency at the beginning to rush for transhumance from the hives to the acacias, but on the contrary you have to wait for the right time. They are the ones who give us the tempo according to the way they fly, the noise they make. What is crazy is to imagine that a worker bee only lives four to five weeks and that, since the dawn of time, it spends this fleeting life working again and again and relentlessly foraging. “
“Bees do everything!”
Jérémie Saint Paul admits being amazed by this world that fascinates him: “Each of my bees here can travel three kilometers in the surrounding area and return exactly to their hive. It is an incredible thing and I know that I am only at the beginning of my discoveries! “
A few months ago, the beekeeper’s wife had the idea of sending samples of his honey to professionals: “I never imagined that my honey would top the tastings, it really is great to think that even from the end of the world, we can make a great product! “He throws enthusiastically before a last look at his hives:” The truth is that bees do everything! “
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