Söderlångvik’s apple orchards consist of approximately 50,000 apple trees. Most of the cultivations are on Tolfsnäs Farm on the northern part of Kimito Island. Some of the trees are in the immediate vicinity of Söderlångvik Manor, which creates a special environment. During the flowering period at the turn of May–June, the landscape is transformed into a fairytale land. When the harvest ripens in autumn, the orchards are an unforgettable sight.

The apples are picked by hand. The work begins in mid-August, and the harvesting finishes in October. The apples are stored in modern low-oxygen warehouses at Tolfsnäs Farm. With this storage method, the apples can be stored until the following spring.  

Apples that are not suitable for selling due to colour or shape are pressed into must or made into jam.  

To ensure that the apple trees get pollinated, the manor has about 40 beehives. The honey and the other products are sold in the manor’s restaurant and with some retailers.

Söderlångvik’s bees

As long as there have been apple orchards, there have also been bee farms at Söderlångvik Manor. Bees are of great importance to the apple harvest. The main job of the manor’s bees is to pollinate the apple blossoms. Some years, the flowering period is very short, and it is almost entirely the responsibility of the bees that the pollination is successful. A sufficient amount of bees helps yield a larger apple harvest and a better quality of apples.

The manor’s bees live in two different apple orchards in bee pavilions. The bee pavilions can be seen as you walk past the apple orchards. In addition, about half of the beehives are lightweight beehives, which are located at a slightly greater distance from the apple orchards. In the spring, these lightweight beehives are placed in the apple orchards to facilitate pollination.

You can buy honey produced by Söderlångvik Manor’s own bees in the direct sales Glassgaraget, at restaurant Amos Krog and in our ice cream café, Glasspalatset, in the heart of Helsinki.