Inspect and prepare
The bort is checked and maintained before the active season.
Honey begins
inside a living tree.
Tree-hollow honey from Bashkortostan. One harvest a year, in autumn.
Ishimbay / Burzyan
Bashkortostan
Bortevoy — honey from a living tree.
Ishimbay / Burzyan
Bashkortostan
The forest where the craft lives on.
The Southern Urals. Pine forests, mountain slopes and river valleys. Here, tree-hollow beekeeping is connected not only to the bees, but also to the tree itself: inside its trunk, the beekeeper prepares a space for a bee colony.
The keeper’s work.
From preparation to harvest.
Prepare the equipment, climb to the bort, inspect the comb and carefully gather the honey. The field record takes a closer look at these steps.
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Field record
ISHIMBAY / BURZYAN
Equipment comes before the climb.
A smoker, ropes and a lime-wood batman: each has a purpose. The smoke keeps the bees away while the keeper works at the bort.
The climb follows the trunk.
The keeper climbs using a kiram, a strap that wraps around the tree. Tools are passed up on a rope.
The comb is gathered by hand.
The gathered comb is lowered to the ground in the batman. The photograph shows honey still in its wax comb, before pressing.
A story kept alive in the forest.
Four short chapters trace what was inherited, how the tamga carries memory, the path the honey takes and which principles still guide the craft.
01Tradition
A tradition that lives on.
Tree-hollow beekeeping existed long before Bortevoy. It is a craft in which knowledge passes from generation to generation, and behind every bort lie years of experience, patience and respect for nature.
We created Bortevoy to give this tradition a future: to preserve its authenticity, tell the stories of the people who carry on their ancestors’ work, and introduce the world to rare honey born inside a living tree.
02Tamga and continuity
Behind every tamga
is a family.
A tamga cut into the bark is a keeper family’s mark. It identifies the family tending the tree. In “A day at the bort”, Anur, a hereditary bort keeper of the seventh generation, speaks about the future of this family craft:
“Just as my father passed his skills on to me, I want to pass this art on to my children.”
Anur · “A day at the bort”, 1:18
03Tree to jar
From a tree to a jar.
The route is slow and direct. One tree, one working day, and no attempt to speed up what the forest determines.
- 01Find the tamga.
- 02Climb the tree.
- 03Open the hollow.
- 04Take part of the comb.
- 05Press.
- 06Fill the jars.
04Principles
The craft is defined by its limits.
What is deliberately left out matters as much as what is done. These four boundaries keep the origin and method legible.
- Hives instead of a bort — no.
- Log hives instead of living trees — no.
- Mixing with apiary honey — no.
- Heat and fine filtering — no.
The craft,
up close.
A working day at the bort — from the morning fog to honey on the table — and a short film on how a bort is built. In the first film, pick a chapter to jump straight to it.
A day at the bort
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A closer look at the bort
Filmed up at the bort: the beekeeper shows the bees’ entrance and the dolzheya, an opening in the trunk closed with wooden boards.
Before harvesting, the lower board is removed. Honey is taken from the lower part of the hollow, while the upper stores are left for the bees through winter.
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Harvest: once a year.
Care: all year round.
Let the colony develop
Through summer, the bees build comb and gather their honey stores.
Gather part of the comb
The keeper opens the dolzheya, removes part of the comb and lowers it to the ground.
Leave the colony its reserve
Part of the honey stays in the tree as the colony's winter food.
Forest honey. A rarity created by nature.
It is taken from a bort, and the amount cannot be increased: it depends on nature, the season and the life of the bee colony.
Unlike conventional apiary honey, it is gathered using traditional methods that preserve the natural rhythm of forest life.
Honey contains natural enzymes, organic acids and antioxidant compounds. Their levels depend on its origin and processing, which makes the way it is gathered especially important.
Its value lies in its rarity, natural composition and a craft carefully preserved across generations.
Origin you can trace.
For us, it matters not only to say where this honey comes from, but to show its path.
The archive contains photographs of equipment, a tamga and the climb to the bort, alongside footage of work high in the tree. Choose a record to explore the details.
Equipment of the keeper
The photograph shows a lime-wood batman, ropes and a small axe: equipment the keeper takes to the tree.
A close-up of the tamga reveals the lines cut into the pine bark.
The photograph shows the keeper climbing towards the working opening high above the ground.
The keeper works at the tree hollow, high above the ground. A wide view gives way to a close-up of the hands and movements involved.
Records for the new harvest
After the new harvest, this section will show its volume, batch numbers, analysis results and accompanying documents.
Hear about the new harvestCan I buy honey on this website?
Online sales are not open yet. Get in touch in the section below to hear how to purchase honey from the new harvest.
Where can I watch the keeper at work?
The “The craft, up close” section has a film with chapters on equipment, work at the bort and gathering comb. You can jump straight to a chapter.
Be the first to hear about the new Bortevoy harvest.
Message us on WhatsApp and we will let you know when records for the new harvest and purchase terms are available.
Hear about the new harvest
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Online sales are not open yet. You can leave an inquiry about the new harvest here.
Other ways to reach us
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