You’d think you were watching an astronaut moving through the wildflowers. In his white jumpsuit, Patrick Cholet cautiously moves towards about thirty beehives on one of his plots of land. from the village of Bonnétable (Sarthe). If we observe him carefully, we will notice that his feet never crush the small plants (white clover, purple clover, wild carrot, phacelia, etc.) that dot the green carpet of the meadow. “I taught my children what my grandfather taught me: you don’t step on a flower that will be used by the bee, that will be used by the bird, and that will end up being used by the human.”he says.
This country square, which he bought a year ago and has appreciated ever since, It says a lot about his approach to the profession of beekeeper: a respect for nature that borders on veneration and goes against the most common practices. “Bees work hard for me, so I try to make their lives easier.slipsThis obviously means not using pesticides that would decimate the swarms. But also reintroducing endemic or unwanted species, such as the mulberry tree, which bothers farmers because it spreads and is full of thorns, or ivy, which nobody wants but which will load the honey with omega 3, 6 and 9.”
Patrick Cholet has made an art out of nectar transformation, becoming the official beekeeper to star chefs David Bizet, Alain Passard, Arnaud Viel… When we listen to the passionate words of this 59-year-old Stakhanovite, and see him emerging from hives with frames laden with gold, to the constant hum of workers in striped pyjamas, it is hard to believe that ten years ago he was the commercial director of an oil group. “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror anymore, he remembers. I was making a very good living, but I left it all behind to live according to my principles.
The beginnings of Cadres Noirs Percherons, his company, were very difficult. For three years, Patrick and Véronique Cholet, his wife, who still runs much of the business, worked hard for a pittance. “We were in the markets and we didn’t sell almost anything: we finished the day with 50 balls in our pockets., he trusts. I saw the moment coming when we would have to sell the house. »
The one who thought that beekeeping would be “a world of care bears” It also exposes the bad practices of certain colleagues. In an investigation published in March 2023, the European Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office indicate that almost half of the honey imported into Europe is adulterated, most often by adding various sugar syrups to increase volume.
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