Beekeepers’ Day: Dozens of Honey Jars Blessed in Aytos Church for Healing the Seriously Ill

Dozens of jars of honey were blessed at the church in Aytos during the celebration of St. Haralampi, a day also observed as the professional holiday of beekeepers.

Ahead of the feast, local beekeepers brought their jars of honey to the church on the evening before. Spending the night in the sanctuary, the honey was blessed this morning by Protopriest Romil Georgiev. On the day of the celebration itself, the blessed honey was distributed during the morning service, accompanied by a ritual bread. The honey is traditionally believed to have healing properties for the seriously ill.

“We do this for health, for a better year, and for more honey. It is traditional to place the blessed honey in the hives to keep the bees healthy during the main nectar flow and throughout the year,” said Oncho Onchev, chairman of the Aytos Beekeepers’ Association “Tsvyat”.

He explained that many bees died last year due to low temperatures.

“Hopefully the weather will be on our side, because if a bee does not eat for three days, it dies,” Onchev said on the day of the beekeepers’ celebration.

He added that St. Haralampi himself treated wounds with honey and lived to the age of 107.

“Honey helps not only with wounds; it has 99 beneficial qualities. Even dead bees are very useful,” the head of the Aytos beekeepers’ association said.