Interest in the world of bees entered Ester Garriga's life as a simple hobby when, a decade ago, she bought three hives from a colleague. Today, Ester manages twenty apiaries, each consisting of around twenty boxes. The thousands of bees she cares for have become the central focus of her professional dedication, an apicultural project that she combines with other agricultural jobs.

Upon arriving at her workshop in Moià, Ester is preparing the beekeeper suits to introduce us to the honey bees (Apis mellifera) of Cal Pastoret. As she moves up and down the room, she enthusiastically explains the phases of her passion and the key to it all: these insects suck nectar from plants and transport pollen from flower to flower, facilitating the pollination of the plant kingdom. According to the United Nations, nearly 90% of flowering plants, as do 75% of the world's food crops, depend on this process to reproduce. Additionally, 35% of the global agricultural area is occupied by plantations that need pollinators. Visiting her on the occasion of the celebration of World Bee Day on 20th May, we get a close look at a project centred on one of the great pollinators, which, together with birds, bats, and butterflies, perform a crucial function for the food security of the population.

"I like capturing the landscape in a jar": this is how this farmer defines her work. Rosemary, thyme, orange blossom, mountain flowers... each variety captures a different ecosystem. We are in the midst of spring, a time of maximum activity for her hives, when bees travel kilometres daily in search of the best blooms. Ester, in addition to being a beekeeper, used to organise educational visits to her hives, an activity she now wants to revive, and she offers us a small educational tasting. In front of a photograph hanging at the entrance, she explains the cycle of transformation from a larva to a bee, describes the type of boxes she uses, and guides us through the workshop detailing each corner and its function: from the honey centrifuge machine to the ripening tanks (classified according to the type of flower), not forgetting the food packages she keeps for when she needs to supplement the bees' natural diet.

Mels Cal Pastoret follows conventional management. Although Ester shows interest in organic practices, she is clear and realistic: "It's very complicated to find an area where all crops are organic!" The organic certification regulations establish that hives must be located in areas where, within a radius of three kilometres, the sources of nectar and pollen come mainly from organic crops or wild vegetation. In addition, a sufficient distance must be maintained from any source of contamination, requirements that are difficult to guarantee in a territory with diverse uses.

A fascinating social organisation

Ester is aware of the importance of these honey-producing insects and, in fact, sometimes feels part of their universe: "I'm a very nervous person and thought initially that I wouldn't like this profession. In reality, it calms me to watch them act. I disconnect and teleport to their world. I'm one of them." In the hive, each bee has a perfectly defined role. "We should all learn from the way bees relate to each other; they are very organised," reflects the beekeeper. And they never stop moving, just like Ester.

Like other social insects, such as ants or wasps, bees live in perfectly structured communities. Their home, the hive, hosts three types of individuals with well-differentiated functions: the queen, the workers, and the drones. The workers are responsible for multiple tasks, from cleaning the hive to collecting nectar. The drones, less numerous, have more limited responsibilities, but among them stands out a vital function: maintaining the hive temperature at exactly 36 degrees when it's hot. The queen, or mother, is the only fertile female in the entire colony, exclusively responsible for reproduction. "They are called queens, but in reality, they are forced to procreate; they make them work very hard. A queen bee can lay two thousand five hundred eggs daily!" exclaims Ester.

When a second queen is born in a hive, a fascinating process is triggered: the division of the community. "Now in spring is the time for survival, for the formation of new swarms. The population divides, and part of the provisions are allocated to form another colony," explains Ester. The day the new queen is born, the veteran leaves the original hive seeking a location, followed by a group of bees attracted by her pheromones. "It's a very perfect system. It's better for the young queen to stay in the box, and the old one leaves," details the beekeeper with evident admiration for this evolutionary strategy.

"We should all learn from the way bees relate to each other; they are very organised" Ester Garriga

Bees across the territory

For Ester, each opening of a box is a unique experience, a constant surprise. She is very aware of the importance of minimising disturbances to the colonies and only performs the essential treatments to protect them from the various threats that besiege them. Patience is key in this profession: one must wait for the optimal moment for honey collection (what in beekeeping is called 'harvesting'), when the nectar has fully matured and the bees have sealed the cells of the hive with wax.

Her apiaries are strategically distributed between cultivated fields and forested areas in the regions of Moianès and Bages. The main apiary, the most accessible for visits, is located a short distance from the workshop in Moià. Ester explains that many local farmers ask her to install boxes on their land, aware of the benefits that pollinators bring. According to her, it has been demonstrated that fields yield more with the presence of bees. For example, rapeseed cultivation with pollinators can increase production by up to 30%.

But the set of Cal Pastoret hives are transhumant: Ester moves them following the rhythm of different flowering periods, continuing an age-old practice. It is worth noting that, in beekeeping, you only need to move an apiary once a year to be considered transhumant. When she wants to take advantage of the second spring of rosemary (those of a lilac blue that seem to come out of a dream), she transports her bees to the Pyrenees, where they find milder temperatures and more rain, factors that guarantee more food for the insects.

"Everything I know I've learned through practice and also thanks to a group of beekeepers from different parts of the country, from Castelló to Extremadura," she confesses. This network of friendship and collaboration has allowed her to exchange valuable knowledge and techniques that she applies to her project. Originally from Anoia, Ester recalls that her grandfather also had some bee boxes, but "he didn't dedicate himself to it as much." "It was the era of self-sufficient farmhouses, where they had a bit of everything: a pig, four chickens... and everyone got along well," she says.

Beekeeping, like other branches of the primary sector, faces similar challenges in a changing rural context. But Ester is not afraid of work and, in addition to bees, has diversified her activity with rented plots where she grows cereals. It's a good complement because the cycles balance each other: "In spring I have a lot of work with the bees, while the cereal is growing," she explains pragmatically. Behind the workshop, a tractor rests waiting for summer to bring the heat and, with it, the time for harvesting.

The state of the forests

But it's not all a bed of roses, neither at Mels Cal Pastoret nor in other beekeeping projects. The health of bees constitutes a true environmental barometer of the state of forest ecosystems, and observing these insects and analysing their honey allows the detection of the impacts of global warming or imbalances in the populations of certain species.

Ester Garriga has faced a hard blow this year, with 70% losses in her bee colonies. This situation, linked to two consecutive years of extreme drought, has forced the entire sector to rethink survival strategies. Following the popular wisdom of not putting all your eggs in one basket, the beekeeper considers it essential to diversify her activity even further and plans to launch a new line of livestock farming, in which she places considerable hopes. Despite these adaptation efforts, she is clear that honey will continue to be the heart of her project, even though the income it generates is not particularly abundant.

"I really like the forest and want to live from this, but I see it becoming more and more complicated," she confesses with concern. Among the reasons for this dramatic mortality, she points out several everyday threats: the Asian hornet (invasive species) is the most important, followed by the varroa mite (Varroa destructor) or the population increase of birds like the bee-eater, a bird with green and yellowish tones that has multiplied notably in recent years.

With vivid details, Ester describes the merciless attacks of the hornet when it decapitates the bee loaded with pollen and nectar to take the booty to its nest. Faced with this danger, a group of inhabitants of Moianès has begun to install homemade traps against the Asian hornet that, according to their experience, are working for them. Although these artisanal solutions are a matter of debate among experts, as they can also affect other wild pollinators important for the ecosystem, Ester explains that they use a recipe with small openings adapted to minimise the capture of other species: a mixture of water, sugar, sloe juice, dark beer, and fresh yeast inside a jug.

As for the varroa mite, it represents another serious threat to the colonies. "It's like a tick that adheres to the bees and causes them diseases. For example, many are born with deformed wings," explains the beekeeper. This anomaly condemns the insects to a short and unproductive life, explains the beekeeper with evident concern.

Regarding the bee-eater, Ester has observed surprising behaviours of solidarity: when a bee-eater captures a bee and it "calls and cries," the beekeeper has seen how three or four companions come out to defend it.

Although some professionals in the sector tend to minimise it in public, the reality is that annually between 15 and 20% of hives are lost, whether due to predator attacks, the death of queens, or other natural causes. Ester points out a curious phenomenon that occurs when the queen dies without leaving a successor: the colony transforms into a "drone layer." In this situation, some workers, which are normally sterile in the presence of the queen, begin to develop ovaries and lay eggs. But since these workers have never been fertilised by any drone (these can only fertilise the queen), their eggs can only develop into drones (males). Without new workers to maintain the hive, the colony is doomed to disappear.

"I really like the forest and want to live from this, but I see it becoming more and more complicated" Ester Garriga

A forest family

Another factor that worries this beekeeper is the abandonment of forests in Catalonia. At her home, this topic is especially present: she belongs to the Forest Defence Group (ADF) Els Cingles, and her partner drives the truck of a forestry work company. "When I see a forest being cleared at once, it hurts, of course, because all the flowers disappear. But an even greater danger is when a forest is not touched and becomes overgrown. No light enters, we have less and less access to it, and it fills with brambles and blackberries. This type of forest is not good," she reflects with knowledge.

Ester has had the yellow card of the Forest Defence Groups (ADF) for ten years, a detail she likes to emphasise with pride. This card authorises her to approach a fire and try to prevent it from spreading; once the firefighters arrive, her function becomes that of providing them with logistical support. "I used to work driving a slurry tank, very useful for transporting water in case of emergency. The ADF members almost invited me to join, he, he, he," she explains with laughter. She is a woman of action, a tireless bee, who combines her passion for nature with the determination to make her business economically viable.

"A danger is when a forest is not touched and becomes overgrown. No light enters, we have less and less access to it, it fills with brambles and blackberries. This type of forest is not good" Ester Garriga

Selling honey with clear labelling

The products of Mels Cal Pastoret, all derived from bees, reach consumers through direct sales. The catalogue includes honey from different blooms, pollen, operculum wax, and propolis tincture. Ester enthusiastically explains the properties of each: "Pollen is indicated to strengthen the immune system; propolis is a natural antibiotic, ideal for fighting infections; and the operculum is the natural wax that serves to make creams and ointments."

To face the challenges her project faces, the beekeeper recognises that for a few months, the Generalitat de Catalunya has launched a specific line of aid for sustainable beekeeping, aimed at improving the viability of this strategic sector. Among the support measures included, Ester mentions, for example, the subsidy for harps, electrified traps that shock invasive hornets, and specific liquids to capture Asian hornet queens. "In the end, these threatening insects learn to dodge the harps. That's why the most practical thing is to move the boxes to the Pyrenees, because there aren't as many there yet. Here, in Moianès, I've seen forty hornets waiting for the bees that returned loaded to the box!" she explains with concern.

Parallel to the constant surveillance of threats to bees, Ester Garriga points out another important challenge: the regulation of honey labelling. "Legislation needs to ensure clear labelling of honey, showing the exact origin and the percentage that is truly local. It's a fight we've been pushing for a long time at the state level," she states. The beekeeper explains that, currently, mixtures of honey from China and other parts of the world are being marketed as Spanish honey, but the labels don't reflect the real percentages of each origin, giving rise to what in the sector is known as "fake honey." "The large packagers buy good honey and mix it with drums of other honey and syrups, and they call this honey," she denounces. It is one of the few moments in the interview when Ester's expression visibly changes; her face becomes serious. It reflects a feeling shared by many small producers: the difficulty of competing with low-priced imported products and the perception that, despite existing aid, there is still a need for more recognition and protection for local honey.
 

"Legislation needs to ensure clear labelling of honey, showing the exact origin and the percentage that is truly local" Ester Garriga

During the conversation, Ester refers to the protests of the so-called "farmers' revolt" of 2024. She recalls those mobilisations that put the primary sector at the centre of public debate and in which she actively participated. As a woman in a traditionally masculinised field, her experience is especially valuable. When we ask her if she has ever felt discriminated against, positively or negatively, for being a woman in the agricultural world, she responds emphatically that she has never had any problem; on the contrary, she is satisfied to observe the growing presence of women shepherds and farmers in her environment. However, she recognises that more women practice beekeeping as a hobby than as a profession.

Since that first day when Ester put on the beekeeper suit and heard the deafening buzz of thousands of bees around her, a decade has passed, but she still remembers with clarity that first sensation of respect and fear. "That noise makes your adrenaline rise," she recalls with a smile. Today, she continues to be faithful to this profession, without having thrown in the towel. Unlike previous times, new beekeepers now have more training resources. The Generalitat de Catalunya has intensified professional programmes in recent years through the Agricultural Schools, where in 2025 it is expected to train about 400 students in beekeeping techniques, a clear commitment to guaranteeing generational renewal and the viability of a profession with a future.

And yes, the bees have stung her more than once. They are "micro-stings," as she calls them with nonchalance. Ester Garriga is a woman of action, a tireless guardian of the pollinators par excellence, defender of forests and, by extension, of all the species that share this planet.

Source of the interview: Municipal Forest Fire Prevention and Agricultural Development Technical Office from the Barcelona Provincial Council