in the footsteps of 100% natural honey produced in the Viñales Valley

Infinite tobacco plantations, lush jungle, mountainous relief… In the west of Cuba, the valley of Vinales is a paradise for tourists in search of nature and wide open spaces. It is also, as we know less, one of the favorite refuges of bees. While everywhere in the world, their number is decreasing, in Cuba, they display an insolent health. In Roberto Vasquez’s farm, the hives are set up among banana trees and palm trees. “They work in a completely natural environment. We don’t use any chemicals to stimulate them”says the beekeeper.

If Roberto Vasquez and the 1,600 Cuban beekeepers launched into organic honey twenty years ago, it is because they had no choice. Fall of the Soviet bloc, which supplied them with pesticides, American embargo on agricultural products… With his son, he had to adapt. “We had to invent our own formulas to obtain our natural pesticides”, says Rovilan Vasquez. No chemical products on the plantations: the bees are therefore preserved. 95% of production is exported to Germany, France or Great Britain.