Eldership artisans
Beekeeper
Vytautas Patinskas
"I have been interested in bees since I was a child, I liked to watch them and listen to their buzzing," says Vytautas Patinskas, a beekeeper from the village of Plasapnininkai, Butrimonys municipality, Alytus district. His grandfather on his mother's side, Augustinas Laužonis, kept bees, as did his father, Vytautas. From an early age Vytautas followed them around, and when he grew up he helped in the apiary. Stings didn't scare him, even though they were very painful. "When you go to the bees, you forget all your worries. The tidiness of the hive, the buzzing of the bees, the smell of steaming nectar - it's mesmerising. Sometimes the peace is shattered by one of the other guards, who tries to drive them away from the hive without sparing their lives," continues Vytautas.
Some of the products can be found in the Crafts and Education Space of the Alytus District Municipal Culture Centre. Of course, everything is available for purchase on arrival at the apiary or by contacting:
Telephone 860016114
Facebook page - Patinskų Bitynas
Email [email protected]
Vytautas started beekeeping on his own when he was still in secondary school, 20 years ago. His grandfather gave him his first bee colonies. After graduating from Butrimoni Secondary School, Vytautas enrolled in the agronomy programme at LŽŪU, but he did not forget bees. He continued his studies at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, where the supervisor of his master's thesis was Dr. Algirdas Amšiejus, a famous beekeeper in Lithuania.
Vytautas was attracted to bees like a magnet, so after graduating he decided to make his life in agriculture, and when he returned to his homeland in 2010 he registered his farm. In 2011, Vytautas started his own family and his wife Renata joined him on the farm. Vytautas has also had a lot of help from his parents. Little by little, the number of bee colonies increased. Today, the family apiary has about 120 colonies.
"When the most beautiful holidays of the year are approaching, the field work is finished and the bees are ready for winter. In the long, gloomy autumn evenings, when we wanted to sit down with the family, we used to make candles out of beeswax plates. On one such evening, my mother told me that her grandmother used to mould church candles. In the old days, a wax candle was a person's lifelong companion, from birth to their last breath. We decided to take up the craft too. We bought the moulds, we had our own wax. And now we had candles for the Advent wreath," says Vytautas, a beekeeper, about the beginning of candle-making.
Nowadays, wax candles are more and more often the choice of parents for christening, and buyers are tired of synthetic scents and are looking for naturalness. These candles have antibacterial and antiviral properties, disinfect the air and give off a wonderful scent. The beekeeper can currently offer around 20 shapes of cast candles in different sizes.
Vytautas also gives educational talks on the life and work of bees in the apiary, honey tasting, and candle-making classes in the future. Vytautas is a member of the Varėna District Beekeepers' Society "Dzūkija". He has been a board member for 5 years and chairperson for 3 years. This society discusses beekeeping issues. The beekeeper collects almost all bee products: honey, propolis (pitch), bread, pollen. It also produces and distributes queen bees. Together with his wife, he sells bee products at various fairs.
