Ballot Flurin

Everything began in 1976 when a young student, fascinated by the life of bees, decided to become a beekeeper… Catherine Flurin became a whisperer for her bees, intuitively connecting to them to better understand their way of life… In conventional beekeeping training, she discovered the basics of this fascinating profession, but the material taught was an exploitive approach centered around production, with intensive, sometimes brutal, breeding methods, the use of antibiotics, and contaminating pesticides. Catherine, rightfully horrified, was motivated to act differently and so developed a method of GENTLE Beekeeping® based on respecting the bees and their natural rhythms. A new world opened up to her: the intersectional world of bees and people, millions of years old, where information is passed between these two close co-inhabitants of our planet.

Catherine’s dedication to gentle beekeeping through her company, Ballot-Flurin Apiculteurs, not only deepened her understanding of bees but also highlighted their invaluable contributions, particularly through their natural products. Our bee products like propolis, honey, and royal jelly are celebrated for their unique and complex alchemical makeup, derived from a myriad of ingredients directly sourced from nature. For instance, propolis typically contains nearly 300 constituents, including resins, balms, essential oils, trace elements, vitamins, polyphenols, and aromatic compounds, all originating from different botanical sources. This natural complexity, a hallmark of our products, stands in stark contrast to synthetic alternatives. The chemical composition of bee products varies with the environment, making each sample uniquely different. Yet, despite this variability, our preparations consistently offer the same benefits. Apitherapy, the therapeutic use of bee products championed by Ballot-Flurin, embodies both simplicity and complexity. It is at once comprehensible and elusive, unveiling secrets and energies vital for the health of our world and reflecting Catherine’s belief in the profound interconnectedness of bees and humans.