SHARRYLAND
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In Sardinia, beekeeping offers an immersive experience: the intoxication of the blooms and the buzzing of the bees: those of the hives, of the island variety, Apis mellifera ligustica, and the wild ones, in surprising variety. And then the aromas of honey and even that of wax, if one is lucky enough to follow the gestures of one of the last artisans worthy of the ancient appellation of "abiaresus." The most recurrent name is that of Luigi Manias, from Ales, a town in Alta Marmilla, the central-western sector of the island. In the background, Mount Arci, a relief of volcanic origin, erected as a nature park mainly for mineralogical merits, since prehistoric times for obsidian, the glassy material that was chipped to make blades.
Generations at workFrom generation to generation
As for the company's hives, it' s a fictional story that begins with a village priest, Fausto Matzeu, a beekeeper of yesteryear. Picking up his legacy in 1917 was his pupil Luigi Olla, who will later be remembered for introducing modern moving-frame hives to the island. From these, to his daughter Verina, now in her nineties but still active around the hives. It is she who is in charge of the production of the archaic acquameli, an amber-colored concentrate made from honey, water and natural flavorings, which even harks back to the Nuragic age. And finally, since 1977, the third generation, Luigi Manias, who by paternal line descends from a dynasty of beekeepers with 150 hives documented as early as 1631.
At work in the hivesIdentity, responsibility, quality
The picture this master has created around himself in his first 40 years of business gives substance to his reputation: 180 organically certified beehives, divided between the Ales countryside and Mt. Arci; a lapidary slogan-"identity, responsibility, quality"-and a production of 6 types of award-winning honey; a house-laboratory built of unfired clay bricks, according to the dictates of bio-architecture; a multimedia library that has become an international center of bee culture; an educational farm attended by volunteers from all over the world and a garden "that knows no hoe," as a laboratory of natural agriculture; a nonprofit association with a broad social spectrum, thanks to which, among other things, young people with mental disabilities are professionally initiated into beekeeping; not to mention what goes beyond honey.
Always looking ahead, because "tradition is a doing, not a suffering; it is a proceeding, not a staying. One does not inherit dead things. One inherits languages, myths, rituals, poetry, cultural and artistic heritage, customs and values."
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