Lendel family breeding apiary, Zahattia
A breeding apiary in Zahattia
The Lendel family apiary in Zahattia is a family breeding farm where Anatolii and Maria Lendel have been raising and preserving the Carpathian bee for more than 20 years. It stands on the edge of the village in the hilly country of the former Irshava district (now Khust district) and has about two hundred colonies and a nucleus yard for 800 queens. The farm is registered as a breeding apiary, and its owners are well known among Ukrainian beekeepers: Anatolii Lendel is a priest and heads the Irshava beekeepers' association, and in 2025 Maria Lendel presented a charity initiative at the Apimondia world beekeeping congress in Copenhagen.
Why go: api-houses and a working apiary
This is first of all a working breeding farm rather than a tourist complex, but there is plenty to show guests. The yard has two api-houses — wooden huts built over the hives where you can rest, breathing the hive air and listening to the steady hum of the bees. The brightly painted hive-cottages against the hills, all built by the hosts themselves, are a reason in themselves to bring a camera. Always arrange a visit to the api-houses, a tasting or a honey purchase with the family in advance by phone: recent sources do not describe the terms for guests. If you cannot come, honey and other products can be ordered by phone, and the family regularly posts news and photos from the apiary on Instagram @pasika_lendel.
What to taste and buy
- acacia, May, wildflower-and-linden and forest honey;
- comb honey, drinking honey and honey with royal jelly;
- pollen and royal jelly;
- tinctures of propolis, wax moth and dead bees;
- beeswax candles and honey lollipops.
The family's main work is the Carpathian bee. It is prized for its industry, winter hardiness, calm temper and disease resistance, and the Lendels run line selection to keep the local population pure. Queens and bee packages with pedigree and veterinary papers are shipped from here to beekeepers all over Ukraine, and queens also to Poland and Romania. The apiary is also a partner of the "Help on Bee Wings" programme, which gives colonies to beekeepers who lost their apiaries to the war and to veterans learning beekeeping.
Practical information
- Where: edge of Zahattia village, Khust district, Zakarpattia region; ask by phone for the exact address and directions.
- Phones: +380979602463, +380675271590, +380990613132; e-mail [email protected].
- Visits: by prior arrangement only; the best time is warm, still weather from late spring to the end of summer, when the bees are busy and the new honey is already in jars.
- Getting there: Zahattia lies in the foothills about 12 km north-west of Irshava, roughly 20 minutes by car. Buses run to Irshava from Mukachevo, Khust and Uzhhorod; the nearest railway stations are in Mukachevo and Khust.
- Tip: wear light-coloured clothes with long sleeves and skip strong perfume.
Website and social media: omu-ua.com · facebook.com · instagram.com
Photos: omu-ua.com; zaktour.gov.ua.
