Master Im Hyeong-mun's 60 Years of Beekeeping Know-how: High-Density Honey Completed Through 60 Days of Aging

In a mountain in Jeollanam-do, in a place filled with the loud sound of wings beating from hundreds of beehives, there is master Im Hyeong-mun, who has protected honey for 60 years. According to a KBS Animal TV : Animal for You animal4u video, Master Im started beekeeping in 1956 with only 3 hives, and currently manages about 1,000 hives with his son, raising up to 30,000 bees per hive. Despite being 86 years old, he continues the second generation of beekeeping with his son, putting all his heart into improving the quality of the honey.

A 60-Day Wait: The Aging Process Where Sealed Honey is Completed

For the honey collected by bees to achieve perfect quality, natural waiting is required rather than artificial processes. After the bees fill the honey during the acacia flower blooming season, they tightly seal the entrance of the honey with beeswax. Nowadays, 3 to 4 months after the acacia flowers have faded, it is the busiest period for bees to collect honey. After confirming that the bees have closed the entrance with beeswax to complete the ripening, Master Im Hyeong-mun undergoes an 'aging' process, waiting for a full 60 days in this sealed state. Only after about two to three months have passed since the bees filled and sealed the honey can the fully ripened honey be obtained.

The honey aged inside the honeycomb for 60 days like this has a very low moisture content and high density, giving it a much thicker texture than ordinary honey. In fact, the difference is clearly evident when comparing ordinary honey sold on the market with Master Im's aged honey. In an experiment shown in the video, when a toothpick is inserted, ordinary honey falls easily, but Master Im's honey, which is concentrated through 60 days of aging, is characterized by high density and stickiness, causing the toothpick to fall very slowly.

Special 'Bee Food' Blending Soybean Powder and Pine Extract

One of the key secrets Master Im uses to obtain high-quality honey lies in the 'bee food' given to the bees. This method was developed to increase the immunity of the bees after experiencing the trial and error of losing all the bees he was raising due to a past flood. In the video, the food the bees eat is surprising because it looks like soybean paste. Master Im explains the importance of the bee food, saying, "It is food that bees can grow healthily after eating it."

This bee food is made by blending soybean powder and pollen in a 3:1 ratio. One more special ingredient is added to this: 'quercetin,' an antioxidant component extracted from pine trees. By adding this component, extracted from the arms, trunks, and bark of pine trees, to the bee food, it helps increase the immunity of the bees and, consequently, helps produce healthier and higher quality honey. Master Im shared that he feels great joy in the process of feeding this food to the bees.

Traditional Honey Extraction and the Beekeeping Spirit Continuing Through the Second Generation

The 'honey extraction' process is performed entirely by hand. The work of scraping off the white beeswax on the surface of the honeycomb with a knife and separating the honeycomb frames takes a lot of time. In particular, for the aged honey, which is very thick due to low moisture content, it can sometimes be difficult to extract honey using machines. In such cases, Master Im uses a traditional method of putting the honeycomb in hemp cloth and hanging it from a main beam to filter the honey. In the past, adults used to bite and eat the honeycomb directly, but hemp cloth is used to filter out foreign substances so that children or elderly people with weak teeth can eat it easily. The honey filtered slowly through the hemp cloth produces an even smoother taste.

Currently, this 60-year know-how is being passed down to his son, who majored in food engineering. The son is working to produce perfect honey by adding his major knowledge to his father's abundant beekeeping experience. Master Im, saying, "My goal is to produce good honey and give it to customers rather than making money," continues his diligent beekeeping life, patrolling the beehives until late at night. Once a year, the day of honey extraction is like a holiday, a day when the whole family gathers to eat beef and enjoy it like a festival.