Prague Airport Wins Gold Medal for Best Czech Flower Honey for Sixth Time

Prague Airport participates in the Czech Honey contest on a regular basis. Being awarded the Gold Medal for the sixth time is a proof of the high quality of its honey, which is evaluated in the accredited laboratory of the Bee Research Institute according to four criteria, namely its physical and chemical properties, mandatory label information, correct labelling including additional information, and its overall aesthetic appeal. The highly-valued honey is the outcome of several years’ work by the entire team of airport beekeepers and their exemplary professionalism in the care of bees.

The practice of beekeeping at Prague Airport goes back to November 2011, when Prague joined other international airports in monitoring the quality of air in the area surrounding the airport by using bees as part of efforts to reduce the negative environmental impact of air transport. Currently, Prague Airport has seven bee colonies with approximately 350,000 bees in total during the summer months. This year, beekeepers have extracted almost 80 kilograms of honey from their honeycombs; however, this is not the main reason for keeping bees at the airport. “Bees that fly a few kilometres away in search of flowering plants to pollinate gather samples from the surrounding environment on their journey, which enables us to obtain valuable information on potential environmental pollution in the surroundings of the airport by chemical analysis of the pollen in the honeycomb,” explains Soňa Hykyšová, Prague Airport Environment Protection Director.

For this reason, the collected samples of honeycomb pollen and honey are sent to the accredited laboratory of the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, where a residual analysis of the content of heavy metals and organic substances (polyaromatic hydrocarbons) is carried out. “The analyses performed in recent years confirm good air quality in the area surrounding the airport,” says Hykyšová, adding that apart from honeycomb pollen, her department has been monitoring fruits and agricultural crops for several years as well.

At a time when the decline of biodiversity is becoming as serious as the threat of climate change, Prague Airport makes efforts to support not only bees, but also other insect species. Accordingly, the so-called insect hotels were installed on the airport’s premises this summer. Other activities will follow as part of the new biodiversity support program.

Although the honey from the Prague Airport’s production is not intended for commercial sale due to its low output and biomonitoring purposes, it serves as a unique gift for the airport’s partners. Nevertheless, visitors of various events for the general public organized or co-hosted by Prague Airport regularly have the chance to taste it. Most recently, this opportunity was given to the residents of the surrounding municipalities, for example during the airport roadshow organized by Prague Airport.

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