From 12 hives and a red Caddy to Kyrini Meli.

Our story begins in 1987, when my father, Ioannis, took up beekeeping as a hobby.

Together with my uncle, Panagiotis, he gained valuable experience and knowledge over the years — and, above all, a love for bees.

They passed that love on to me.

In 2012, I decided to take beekeeping more seriously. I attended seminars at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences on the Syngrou Estate and began working actively with the 12 hives my father already owned.

The theory gave me a foundation. My real education, though, took place beside the hives, guided by two people who generously shared their experience.

One of my clearest memories from those years is moving our hives in a red 1985 Volkswagen Caddy with an open bed.

We would load the hives onto it and set off.

There were few comforts, but plenty of enthusiasm, determination and conversations that often became little lessons in beekeeping.

Over the years, the 12 hives grew in number, our experiences multiplied, and beekeeping became a constant part of my life.

I graduated from Harokopio University and have built my career in logistics since 2016, gaining experience at major companies in the sector.

Alongside that career, my need to stay close to nature never faded.

As it turns out, logistics and beekeeping have more in common than you might think.

Transport, storage, organisation, division of labour, stock management and strict schedules.

Bees have had all of this organised for millions of years.

The main difference?

In a hive, it takes neither Excel nor endless meetings to get the job done!

The idea of creating our own brand did not come from a grand business plan.

It came naturally.

Friends and relatives who tasted our honey encouraged us to take the next step: to give our work a name and an identity of its own.

That is how Kyrini Meli began to take shape.

To me, it is more than a label on a jar.

It is a way to share something we love and have devoted ourselves to for years.

It is the knowledge passed from one generation to the next, the journeys, the early mornings at the hives, the good years and the difficult ones.

Above all, it is a story we continue to write together.