Moment of Honey
Hunaja Hetki is a company founded by two beekeepers, Jemina Valli and Elisa Ahtosaari, for high-quality domestic honey, beehive products, beeswax candles, bee cosmetics and natural products.
Honey Hetke's products include various honeys, soft honey, crystalline honey, runny honey and various honeys. In addition to this, there are various flavored honeys, the absolute favorite all year round is the rum honey preparation, while in the dark of autumn, ginger and lemon honey preparations are popular with customers. Flavored honeys come in many different flavors and their use is only limited by your imagination. Salty-flavored honey for ice cream, pepper brings to mind Christmas, mint cools. You can find more flavored honeys in our online store.
We make individual and handmade, Finnish handmade, beautiful individual candles from beeswax. We only want the best for our customers.
In order to guarantee the quality of the products, we have also wanted to update our own skills, and Elisa is currently training as a natural resource producer and Jemina is training as a bio and food technology engineer. In this way, we can develop our operations further and guarantee our customers high-quality and good products in the future as well.
As entrepreneurs, we also consider the well-being of bees to be an important part. As full-time beekeepers, we have time for the bees, when the bees need it the most. We collect pollen, propolis and perga from beehives, but we take the bees' own needs into account and make sure that, first and foremost, the bees get the amount they need collected.
As entrepreneurs, the support of each other and our families is a big help in taking care of bees when necessary. Both Elisa and Jemina have completed a professional degree in beekeeping. In addition, training and learning new things is maintained, for example, by actively attending trainings organized by the Finnish Bee Association. Both breeders participate in e.g. to the varroa mite abortion research organized by the association, so that all beekeepers would get new treatment methods and information about the behavior of beehives. We also try to cooperate with other gardeners, because it is good to agree on treatment methods together, especially with gardeners in the same area. In the summer of 2023, Jemina participated in the Europe-wide Insignia project, where information was collected about our bees and beehives, in addition, researchers from the University of Helsinki visited Jalasjärvi to monitor bee activity and took samples.
In the future
In the future, we also want to be pioneers and now already 2/3 of our honey will be organic in 2024 and in 2025 all our honey will be organic. In 2022, we have also been awarded the Finnish work mark, the Finnish key ticket, and we also have the Good Suomestamarkki for honey.
Vallinmäen Farm
Jemina's family lives on the Vallinmäki farm in Jalasjärvi, Ala-Valli. The family includes two daughters. The family lives on Jemina's family farm, where Jemina is already the tenth generation. The farm has been in the possession of the family since 1751. Now on the farm bees are raised on the stems of organic fields and in forest hives. In addition to the bees, the farm has chickens, ducks, sheep and a cat.
Customers are served by the atmospheric Tilapuoti at the end of the old stone barn all year round by agreement. You can buy both gifts and housewarming gifts at the farm shop. You can also find products from other small entrepreneurs in the farm store. In addition, the farm organizes various events throughout the year. Jemina has served on the board of the bee association since the beginning of 2023. Jemina acts as the chairperson of the professional nurseries committee and is also involved in the organic committee of the bee association.
Häme Highland Honey
Elisa's family lives in Järviylängö, Hämeenlinna, on the Alhaiten farm. The family includes four children and a spouse. The family lives on Miko's family farm and is the sixth generation of the farm. The farm has been granted a Wildlife Estate certificate. The desire to keep nature and habitats in order for the next generations also guides the activities on the farm.
Elisa's interest in pollinators and honey as a natural sweetener steered the operation of the farm in an even more pollinator-friendly direction. Home garden bees pollinate the fruits of the garden and vegetable garden, not forgetting wild berries. Häme Highland Honey's other apiaries are located in the lake highlands of Häme, Urjala, Tammela, Forssa, Valkeakoski, Akaaa and Iittala in Hämeenlinna.
Miko's work as a special designer at the Finnish Game Center has enabled him to put his know-how into practice as well. The farm has many wetlands, its own conservation area, the forest is renewed according to continuous cultivation and also by burning. Several forest engineering students have received close training at the farm. The fields are cultivated in an oat-grass rotation, without forgetting the game-flower and diversity lanes. Traditional biotopes are cared for by summer sheep grazing. There are also domestic hens from the farm.