“In 1972 I had a small shop inside my student room where I would sell organic products. From that moment I knew the importance of healthy and fair food and the positive e effect it has on humans and the environment. In the year 1977 I started my own dynamic gardenery located in Leersum. Between excavating potatoes and picking pumpkins, I would put much of my time in beekeeping. At the time 50 bee populations would awake in the spring ready to enjoy their first sunshine and a whole variety of different flowers. I would bring them to the heath, apple orchards and the linden trees. In this way the bees were able to produce all kinds honey with the sweetest scents. I would sell the honey to vegetable and natural nutrition stores. When time past the honey production started to increase with it through knowledge and international relations. I would get my honey from France, sunflower honey from the Vendée, red clover honey and natural lavender honey from the Provence. These countries still have many plains filled with nature, with many types of flowers, warmer temperatures and various types of trees. I still taste the honeys from many different countries every day, one tasting or scenting even more special than the other one. In this way de Traay is able to have an assortment with many different varieties all of high quality. And when spring begins I would bring my bees again to places most rich in flowers within the Netherlands.„
Today Wouter has been a beekeeper for over 35 years in an organic way with his beehives located on the Groene Velden, a place that borders to a unique part of the Netherlands with only organic farmers living in the surrounding area. Besides that Wouter is also actively concerned with the environment of the bees that are being supported with diverse initiatives of de Traay.
