According to legends, mead predates humanity itself – it was already consumed by the ancient gods under the name of Ambrosia, and every worthy ancient civilization knew how to make it. And since our Slavs were truly brave souls, this drink of strength, courage and love was very close to them either.
If we set aside legends and the gods and turn more to science, it tells us that people were already familiar with mead thousands of years ago.
In the dry season, bees occupied holes in baobab trees, and when the rainy season arrived and honey mixed with water and natural yeast, the mixture fermented, giving rise to the world’s first alcoholic beverage.
People later carried bees to other continents, bringing along the yeast – which was then used for fermenting wine and beer.
Mead was a favorite beverage of royal courts and nobility, a symbol of abundance and prosperity. During the Middle Ages, the term ‘honeymoon’ (lune de miel) was also created.
Mead was given as a wedding gift to newlyweds so that they would have enough for the entire month after the wedding.
Newlyweds were supposed to drink mead every day to ensure fertility and abundance for their family. If a boy was born to the couple within a year, the meadmaker received a generous reward.
Mead had a long tradition of production in Europe, India, and China. However, with urbanization, honey availability as a sweetener gradually receded, and in Europe, for example, it was almost entirely replaced by sugar cane.
In the last twenty years, mead is returning to the spotlight again. The raw material for its production is created even more ecologically than for beer or wine.
You don’t need heavy agricultural machinery for honey production, just the care of beekeepers. Additionally, bees contribute to the balance of the surrounding nature and pollinate every third bite of food we eat.
Beekeeping is becoming popular not only in the countryside but also in cities. Urban beekeeping clubs are emerging worldwide.
Our mead is produced at the foothills of the Little Carpathians, in Smolenice village.
Just a few kilometers from here, the foundations of modern Slovak beekeeping were laid. Renowned Slovak author Juraj Fandly wrote two basic books about beekeeping here in the years 1801 and 1802 – ‘Slovenskí včelár’ and ‘O úhoroch aj včelách rozmlúváňí’.
We founded the company Včelco in 2007 as three beekeepers and friends who were brought together by a beekeeping club at the Elementary School. That club opened the doors to the basics of beekeeping, love for bees, and nature as a whole. Our story began to be written then.
Although our paths diverged for a while after this period, and we pursued beekeeping and the first attempts related to mead production individually, alongside studies and completely different occupations, our love for beekeeping brought us back together after few years.
We enjoy our work, and we accept the slow growth of the company with humility as a gift, but also as a responsibility. Good relationships, mutual respect, not only for each other but also for the environment we live in and the people around, are very important to us.
Although our successes in competitions motivated us before, the greatest motivation has always been people’s positive response. Thanks to this, we decided to set a company, and we started to engage in business fully and professionally.
After a few busy startup years, we wanted to build a permanent home for our endeavours. Our dream was stone building on the meadow below the Smolenice Castle. We decided for this location completely intuitively.
We want to offer not just a product, but an experience. To make the time spent at our place as pleasant as possible for the visitors, with just a little touch of education about importance of bees and environment.
