Honey in Kazakhstan.

“How fresh and green my garden is!
The lilac blossomed in it
From fragrant bird cherry
And from the curly linden trees the shadow...
And all day in the tall grass
ying down, I would be glad to listen,
Like caring bees
The bird cherry trees are buzzing around.”

Pleshcheev A.N. "My kindergarten."

Honey in Lepsinsk.

According to the chronicle of Russian beekeeping compiled by V.P. Polov in 1949 - beekeeping in Semirechye appeared in the vicinity of Lepsinsk, and from here it spread to other parts of Semirechye in the period from 1848 to 1850.
Lepsinsky honey was exported at exhibitions in Moscow and repeatedly received gold medals. A shop was opened in Moscow that sold only honey delivered from Lepsinsk. In Lepsinsky district before the revolution, the main points of concentration of bees were the city of Lepsinsk and the village of Lepsinskaya.
In 1913, the coat of arms of Lepsinsk was approved: against the backdrop of mountains - the head of a deer, below on a green carpet of grass - three golden beehives. Lepsinsky beekeepers Mironenko, Vasilenko, Klimenko and others sent a barrel of fragrant Lepsinsky honey to St. Petersburg for the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.
1857 became the year of P.P. Semenov-Tien-Shansky. At that time there were over 2000 people in the village. It was on his advice that bees were brought from Altai. Subsequently, there were 43 apiaries on the territory of Lepsinsky district; in terms of honey yield and quality of honey, Lepsinsky honey ranks 2nd after the East Kazakhstan region.
In 2016, the Lepsinsk Onimi plant opened in the village of Lepsi, thus restoring the undeservedly forgotten glory of Lepsin honey. The director of the plant is a local, sixth-generation hereditary beekeeper, Farhad Abuzyarov.
Lepsinsky honey is a mountain herb, it contains several dozen species of herbs and medicinal plants: catnip, oregano, angelica, rosehip, fireweed, dzhusai, raspberry, apple tree, St. John's wort, sage, mint and many others.
The plant's products are supplied to Japan, China, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates. So far, honey export volumes to China are modest. In Kazakhstan, honey from the village of Lepsi can be bought in stores: Aktau, Atyrau, Almaty, Astana.

Authority and photos by:
Alexander Petrova. Black and white photographs from the local history museum of the village of Lepsi.