Yasuki Funahashi thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me! Beekeeping is a very interesting topic I’m sure that our readers at Apis Cera would like to know more about.
Apis Cera: Can you introduce yourself?
Yasuki: I am 53 years old and my hives are in a Zoo, in the Higashiyama Botanical Gardens and in the Morikoro Park. Both are located in Nagoya. Besides beekeeping, I’m talking about bees and the environment on the radio.
Apis Cera: How and why did you get started with beekeeping?
Yasuki: I recently left my company to start beekeeping at the age of 50 years old. And since the spring of 2012 it became my main activity. As I use to work for a think-tank on environmental issues, I began to focus on beekeeping. Then, at the moment I met “them” (the bees) I had a strong intuition and decided to be their spokesman.
Apis Cera: How many hives do you have currently and how many did you start off with?
Yasuki: We started with 16 hives, and since the spring of 2013, we have 60.
Apis Cera: What’s your favorite part of beekeeping?
Yasuki: I like everything, it’s happiness and I feel like if I’m working for the gods!
Apis Cera: Aren’t you afraid of being stung?
Yasuki: No, not at all. I know they do not sting me as I respect them and I work in harmony with them.
Apis Cera: Are you witnessing any colony collapse in your area? Does your hives suffer this phenomenon?
Yasuki: Fortunately, I am not strucked by this phenomenon. No.
Apis Cera: What kind of flowers, trees or plants does your environment offer to your lovely bees?
Yasuki: Our bees collect honey from flowers and plants thickets of the city. Our honey is a melody and harmony of the forest.
Apis Cera: What’s your personal favorite type of honey?
Yasuki: I love my honey, but all honeys made with love and affection are delicious.
Apis Cera: Where do you see yourself in one year?
Yasuki: I will continue to develop beekeeping and environmental education by bees in a balanced way so that we can contribute to society. Similarly the foundations of Honey Farm will become effective through strengthening collaboration with Paris and France. And it will make a harmonious vision of our company.
Apis Cera: Anything else?
Yasuki: Gods lives in bees.
These bees teach us many things.
Humans are not the rulers of nature.
We’re just a being among other living beings.
I invite you to learn humbly about our environment, spirit and life with nature, with bees for us to be happy.
Anything else?
Gods lives in bees.
These bees teach us many things.
Humans are not the rulers of nature.
We’re just a being among other living beings.
I invite you to learn humbly about our environment, spirit and life with nature, with bees for us to be happy.
