Apis Alba is a large bee family and it’s founders are a husband and a wife. The most important part of our work is our love for the bees and for what they do. We sincerely believe that in nature, there exists and unsurpassed balance and harmony, from which we draw inspiration for our products. We try to unlock in each of our products their maximum natural energy.
In 2012, Olga and Alexander united their efforts in order to start on their honey journey, which led them to the formation of an Apis Alba brand. A family tradition of beekeeping has been passed on in Olga’s family from one generation to the next. In 1923, Olga’s grandfather, George, collected honey for the first time. As a child, Olga enjoyed watching her grandfather work with the bees, and he, in turn, with pleasure demonstrated his skills and shared his secrets. Time passed and Olga decided to resurrect the olden traditions of Belarusian beekeeping, as well as to bring to her product the best that those traditions can offer.
Today, Olga is a recognised sommelier in Eastern Europe; was trained in Bologna (Italy); and is a participant of numerous conferences and expert meetings. She, better than anyone, knows the way through different tastes and aromas of honey. Olga always wanted to share with people her knowledge of honey and bees, and to incarnate that knowledge into a specific project.
Alexander is a doctor and a surgeon, who hold a PhD in medical sciences. It was Olga who introduced him to bees. Alexander saw from the inside all of the problems of modern medicine: the way in which modern antibiotics fail to cope with aggressive microbes; how immunostimulants mask, but not treat the cause of a disease; and how pharmaceutical companies exaggerate the benefits of chemical means, forcing us to purchase more and more pills. In Apis Alba, Alexander saw an alternative way for himself of helping sick people: a more true and a more balanced way, which actually treats, and not masks, the symptoms of a disease.
They wanted to bring their own contribution to a healthier world and looked for inspiration to our friends – bees. The result was the project Apis Alba, which in translation stands for white bee – a symbol of pure intentions of the company’s founders.
The main principles behind Apis Alba are very simple: we take the very best from the bees, minimum treatment, maximum beneficial properties. For example, we use only RAW honey – honey straight from a hive, without any additional treatment. We do not heat honey at temperatures higher than that of a human body, we do not subject honey to ultrafiltration. Why? The thing is that only in unheated, unfiltered honey there remain a high activity of enzymes, as well as vitamins, amino acids and bee products. Such honey can crystallise, which means it can harden over time. This is a normal process, and is how it should be. If honey does not crystallise for a long time, on a store shelf, then the honey had been overheated and pasteurised, and left with no active enzymes, no vitamins, and bee products that bring no value. In order to make honey easy to handle, but still beneficial, in Apis Alba was perfected a recipe for making whipped honey. It likewise is not subject to heating and filtration, and remains beneficial. In Apis Alba we learned to make the texture soft by utilising the fact that honey crystals are ultrasmall. This honey is healthy and delicious, while propolis, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, forest berries, cocoa and hazelnut carry additional health benefits.
One more important thing, which we are especially proud of. Our apiaries are located on a territory of a landscape reserve, called ‘Ozyorï’, which is a really clean, pesticide-free territory of a wild Belarus.
Apis Alba is science-friendly, obsessively testing and improving our products. Our close attention is always riveted to the most valuable of bee gifts: propolis, flower pollen, and royal jelly. Honey, in the best way possible, retains their healing qualities, and if honey with propolis is in question, the various concentrations of propolis can have various functional actions. We introduced a particular term PCF (propolis concentration factor), in order to make it easier to sort through and understand the type of product that is suitable for you.
Bee products are simple. They are natural. And they work. We strive to share bees’ secrets with you, so that we can live a healthy and an active life.
