The head of a golf facility in Germany has revealed that they have harvested the first honey from the hives at their premises.
Twenty-two honeybee colonies were installed at the Golfanlage Duvenhof in Willich, North-Rhine Westphalia in 2020.
Now beekeepers from a local apiary have harvested the first set of honey.
Golfanlage Duvenhof CEO Michael Kerkhoff told the Rheinische Post newspaper: “We’ve had unanimously positive reactions from our members to the new product on offer.”
Michael said he was certain that the installation of the apiary and the purchase of honey had taken golfers’ identification with the venue to another level.
He revealed: “Several jars have already been sold.”
The Golfanlage Duvenhof boss – who also set up flower strips and additional water installations at his estate – added he also intended to dismiss the prejudice that golf courts would deprive native animals of their habitat.
Experts from the Bienenland van den Bongard apiary in Willich-Anrath examined the honey to find that golf court colonies had pollinated raspberries, rapeseed, lime trees, blackberries and more than a dozen other plants.
Beekeeper Iris van den Bongard explained: “The bees are collecting nectar within a distance of three to five kilometres.”
