The Grudinin family from the Mstislavsky district about life in the village and about their favorite business
Yulia and Evgeny Grudinins - participants of the ENI-LLB-1-117 project "Green agriculture without borders" of the Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus Cross-Border Cooperation Program within the framework of the European Neighborhood Instrument 2014 – 2020 gg.
https://robimrazam.by/vendors/paseka-grudinina/
The local economy (TG): Evgeny and Julia, in one of the interviews you called yourself downshifters? Usually people, who decide to become downshifters, make decisions impulsively, at the limit of burnout or fatigue. How did you come to this?
Eugene Grudinin (EG): Chance helped us move to a new level of life. My grandfather is a beekeeper, once asked me to look after the hives. At that time I was about twenty years old. I have done this job, and I'll tell you more, I really enjoyed working with bees, I got it. And my wife and I decided to move to the village. And for ten years now we have been living in the village of Lutnya, Mstislavsky district. The village is located five kilometers from the city of Mstislavl. Having a car, no problem to get to the city.
So I can't say, that at the time of the decision to move we were at the limit of burnout or fatigue. Yes we worked, I am an engineer, wife is a teacher. We have three children. For them, life in the village is just paradise! They are from morning to evening on the street. Environmentally friendly air, quality vegetables and fruits, since we have our own garden besides the apiary, where we grow cherry tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin and more. Children are very fond of porridge with pumpkin!
Yes, definitely have to sacrifice. At first it seemed to us, did we do the right thing, changing the developed infrastructure in the city to rural remoteness. But we got an additional bonus to the move - it's to live close to nature. And here she is amazing!
TG: That is, for your family, downshifting is when you acquire, but don't you lose?
EG: Yes, we have certainly acquired a new life, inner freedom, the opportunity to work for yourself, not depend on anyone, do what you love!
Julia Grudinina
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
TG: Eugene, tell us about your business.
EG: We have a family apiary. Therefore, the main thing we do is beekeeping.. We have more 150 families of bees. We produce honey of different types, perga, bee moth, cosmetics using bee products, decorative wax candles, propolis, soap.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
This business is for those, who is ready for serious and hard work. Before you start beekeeping, you need to study a lot of relevant literature.. In addition to knowledge, you must have a piece of land, purchase the necessary equipment - hives, inventory, the bees themselves for breeding.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
We started with two colonies in two hives. Now we have more than a hundred. If you want to start making money from beekeeping, that is, do honey not only for yourself, you will need to have at least ten bee families.
In addition to the honey itself, we grow and sell queen bees and bee packages - these are four frames with bee colonies for a new hive.
Plans to enter the Russian market. Sell and honey, and the bees themselves. But this requires volumes, therefore, our apiary should grow three or four times.
You don't have to talk about honey itself - everything is clear here., and the rest of the products are now especially in demand in cosmetology and medicine.
TG: Tell us in more detail what cosmetic products based on bee products you produce?
EG: This question is better to ask my wife Julia. She deals with cosmetics, and I provide raw materials.
TG: Yulia, share with our readers and female readers about cosmetics based on bee products, about its benefits.
Julia Grudinina (SOUTH): Honey isn't just good for your throat, but also for the skin. Even Queen Cleopatra knew about the healing properties of this product and used it to maintain her beauty.. Cosmetical tools, which contain bee products, feed, rejuvenate and moisturize your skin. These components in the composition of cosmetics, in addition to their naturalness, are also very effective.. This is especially true in the autumn-winter period..
Not right away, of course, I managed to make good quality cosmetics. Internet helped me with this, acquaintances, friends, who were not afraid to experience my first samples on themselves. Now I have a large list of cosmetic products, which I make are eye and face creams with royal jelly, ubtan face with bee pollen, ubtan for hair, moth extract cream, lip balms.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Bee products contain many organic acids and vitamins. All this together gives the cosmetics excellent nutritional properties., perfectly retains water inside the skin, preventing drying out. Honey masks, cream, butters, scrubs cleanse the skin well and do not injure it, saturating with useful components.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
for example, bee bread contains vitamin E, folic acid, retinol and many other valuable components. Facial masks help repair dry skin, a good natural remedy for acne and wrinkles.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Royal jelly is an expensive and rare component for cosmetic products. However, even a small amount has a significant effect on the skin.. Maintains firmness of the facial skin, vitamins and amino acids regenerates the skin.
Julia Grudinina. Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
TG: Yulia, where you can buy your products?
SOUTH: We actively use social media, we have a page, where we constantly post information about our products. By now we already have regular customers, who contact us. We also trade in the local market. As far as possible, we try to take part in various exhibitions, fairs, agricultural festivals.
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Julia Grudinina. Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
TG: Yulia, Eugene, what would you advise to novice farmers - beekeepers? What would you like to warn those, who is only at the beginning of the journey?
EG: If you want to change your life, then first you need to understand, what are you really looking for: tranquility or dynamic city life. Don't be afraid to start something new, change your life.
At some point, people experience a change in their outlook on life., habits. They decide, that they don't want to live their lives anymore, which does not satisfy them, self-realization. It all depends on why, how to look at the current situation in life. For many, the dream of a new life can turn into a test of strength, which not everyone can stand.
On the example of our family, I can say one thing, that our life has changed dramatically. We started to fulfill our dream - to work for ourselves. As a result, we received and still receive great pleasure.! And never regretted it!
Today in our country more and more people are engaged in beekeeping.. If you decide to take up beekeeping, then the following conditions are important conditions for this type of activity:
- Availability of space for the location of the apiary. In this case, it is necessary to take into account, that the radius of flight of a bee is about two kilometers. Desirable, so that there are honey plants around the apiary, there were no harmful enterprises, factories.
Often, beekeepers practice summer removal of hives to the location of honey plants., but for this you need to have a special vehicle and think over a way to protect the apiary. It is enough for a beginner beekeeper to purchase 2 – 4 bee colonies. It is better to buy bees in the area, as close as possible to the future apiary, in the spring and summer.
Buyers always ask sellers, where is the honey. Therefore it is necessary to know, that the further the apiary is from the city limits, the better the honey, clean of impurities and therefore more useful.
- The necessary inventory is tools for working in the apiary (protective suit, smoker, honeycomb), for bee care (drinker, uterine cell for temporary keeping of queens, uterine cap, which cover the uterus when planting it in the family, bee remover, designed to separate the honey body from worker bees, etc.) and for working with beekeeping products.
Sometimes they ask, what breed of bees is better to start. Read about bee breeds, try to understand, which one is best for your area. If possible, then talk to beekeepers. You need to choose this breed, so that the bees are not evil.
And the most important thing is to constantly replenish your knowledge in this area., about the life of a bee family, about proper care of her. Moreover, this is a must as for a beginner, and for an experienced beekeeper.
Do not be afraid of the difficulties ahead! Make beekeeping your favorite hobby!
Julia and Evgeny Grudinin
Photo from the personal archive of the Grudinin family
Family apiary of Julia and Evgeny Grudinin: Mstislavl district, der. Lute
Phone: 8 029 689-36-74; 8 029 807-58-80
email: geoyula@ya.ru ddt.mstislavl@tut.by
Website: www.facebook.com/pasekagrudinina www.instagram.com/pasekagrudinina
Interviewed by Yulia Koroleva, CJSC "MAP CJSC" Minsk district
