Emil and Bogomila Patovi keep over 150 hives in the town of Trastenik, Pleven region. Together with their children Kamen and Boril they take care of their bees in the yard of their family house. They prefer a more relaxed and environmentally friendly lifestyle for themselves and their children, and that is why in 2014 they decided to leave Sofia and return to their hometown of Trastenik. Today they keep their bees and their two boys, devoted to nature.
The honey they produce is a bouquet of meadow flowers and herbs and sunflowers – fragrant, sweet and very healthy.
The two are participating in the Adopt a Hive program ????
Here’s what Emil says: “It all started in 2003 when I met my future wife and began my journey into the world of bees. Bogomila’s parents had an apiary and as far as she recalls, they always needed her to help out, so for her bees were an integral part of her life. I found myself thinking the same thing was happening to me. Although we settled down to live and work in Sofia, we often returned to Trystenik. I gradually began to help in the apiary, at first only with labor. As time went on, I got curious, learned and got into the craft. And so until 2014, when we made the decision to leave Sofia, return to live in Trastenik and “in the countryside” to raise our children. Beekeeping became our livelihood and way of life. Bogi’s parents gave us the bee colonies, which at that time were about 100. At the moment we are only engaged in keeping hives – 160 pcs. And why did we make this major change in our lives? Why did we substitute Sofia for Trystenik? For us, it’s simple – because it’s nicer! Here we live our lives more freely, more ordinary, but more truly. The main thing is that for our children we wanted a childhood like we once had – a healthy life, real food, peaceful games. We wanted our kids to be able to bike on streets where cars rarely pass, to chase a ball around to with neighbor friends. We wanted the tablet to be more boring for them than playing in the snow outside or in ….the mud. And when they got tired of playing, they could sit in front of the house, in the big yard, and say, “Grandma, give me a slice of toast spread with honey.”
