A passion becomes a profession.
Every day, with the bees.
It began with curiosity, five nucleus colonies and many questions. Today, that same desire to understand drives ESA Regine: our work in bee breeding, selection and care.
It all began with five nucleus colonies
First came curiosity, then the desire to try. Finally, a passion that changed the way we saw the world. This is how the ESA Regine story began: we approached beekeeping without knowing how much of our lives it would come to occupy.
Those first five nucleus colonies taught us an immediate lesson. Only after bringing them home did we discover that three were queenless. It was not an easy start, but those very difficulties sparked our need to understand: to observe a colony, recognise its condition, and learn when to intervene and when to let it find its own balance.
Since then, we have learnt to see the world through a beekeeper’s veil. Behind that mesh, what once seemed simply a group of insects became a complex organism, continually raising new questions. That endless opportunity to learn is what made us stay.
When passion calls for method
Passion was the beginning; turning it into a profession required study, consistency and responsibility. Alongside our work in the apiary, we read reference texts and attended training organised by beekeeping associations, universities and research bodies, including CREA.
Exchanging knowledge with researchers and fellow beekeepers helped us turn enthusiasm into a more informed way of working. An observation gains value when it is recorded, compared and revisited over time. A breeding decision requires attention to the colony’s condition, its environment and the effects it may have in the following season.
Our transition to professional beekeeping grew out of this process. The wonder of those early days was joined by careful organisation, precise work and a commitment to consistent care. Bees became the focus of our working lives, while remaining the reason we continue to study.
Breeding means choosing, observing and assessing
Today, ESA Regine focuses on breeding and selecting Apis mellifera ligustica. Our registration in Italy’s National Register of Italian Bee Breeders provides a technical reference for this work, connecting apiary practice with protocols, data collection and shared assessment methods.
Selection takes patience. A good impression during a single inspection is not enough: colonies need to be followed over time, their development and behaviour recorded, and their performance assessed in the conditions in which they work. Honey production, gentleness, swarming tendency and the ability to cope with different stages of the season all contribute to a fuller picture.
Instrumental insemination complements this process. This skill enables controlled matings and greater precision in breeding programmes. The technique is meaningful when it is supported by knowledge of the colonies and by assessment of the results over time.
Bees for a changing world
Bees have taught us that no single, permanent solution works in every season. Beekeeping calls for observation, adaptability and respect for a living creature that cannot be reduced to its output alone. Pliny’s expression, “neque mansueti neque feri”, still reminds us of this distinctive nature, with which we seek a balance every day.
For us, sustainable beekeeping must bring together the wellbeing of bees and the ability of those who keep them to continue working with skill and dignity. It means making thoughtful choices, using resources carefully and building a business that can endure.
This is what “bees for a changing world” means to us. A profession born of passion, developed through study and sustained by daily work. Our first hives belong to our history; the desire to understand that brought us this far remains part of every day at ESA Regine.