In this on‑site interview at the Apimondia conference in Copenhagen, host Speaker A talks with Tomasz Lyson, owner of the beekeeping equipment company Lyson. Tomasz explains why Lyson sponsors Apimondia, describing the event’s global reach and the value of direct contact with beekeepers. He recounts Lyson’s origins 30 years ago in a garage, where the first product was a polystyrene beehive, and traces the company’s growth to a worldwide presence with platinum sponsorship. The conversation highlights Lyson’s philosophy of continual product improvement, citing the evolution from gravity‑fed uncapping machines to chain‑fed designs and the development of advanced extractors, especially the cassette (swing‑cage) extractor. Tomasz shares a personal hobby—a 1931 Chevrolet Independence classic car—and offers advice for beginner beekeepers, emphasizing the importance of learning from experienced beekeepers and caring for the bees. He identifies the cassette extractor as Lyson’s favourite product, noting its suitability for different apiary sizes and regional markets.
Chapters
I am at Apimondia with the owner of Lyson, Tomas, who is going to answer some really obscure questions today. So Tomas, thank you so much for coming on. It's a pleasure.
It's a pleasure for me also.
Thank you very much. So I see you everywhere. Yeah, like America, South America, Copenhagen, the UK. You're everywhere. Do you like your travel?
Of course. For us, it's very impressive to be in different markets, explain about beekeeping, of course, learn something from beekeepers. This is very good for us to get some feedback from beekeepers and what beekeepers need. His apiary. This is for us very important to have a contact with beekeepers.
Definitely. And you are the platinum sponsor of Apimondia. Why did you choose to sponsor Apimondia?
We decide because Apimondia, it's first time from when you look in the history, 16 years ago Apimondia in France, in Montpellier, be in European Union. Now we have an opportunity to enjoy in the Apimondia. And of course the platinum sponsor, it's It's for us, of course, the pleasure to have this sponsoring.
Oh, definitely. It really is. It's like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And it's amazing the amount of people that I've seen at Appimondia because I looked at it last year and I thought, you know, Chile, it's quite far away to go. And is it Chile next year or this year?
We have a last Appimondia we have in Chile.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I thought it's a bit too far to go. Like, you can't really go from the UK to Chile. And it appears that a lot of people thought the same. But what I'm seeing here in Copenhagen is everybody has come, hasn't they? Because It's quick and easy to get to Copenhagen, even if Russia is trying to take down the airport with drones. Did you get caught up in that?
Yeah, of course. But anyway, we see how many beekeepers enjoy in the exhibition and here at Pimondia. We have more than 7,000 beekeepers here. Also, the regular beekeeper can come. We think we can have more than 10,000 beekeepers here. Wow. It's quite good.
Yeah, brilliant. So I have a longstanding relationship with Lyson. I also have relationship with Abello. And the reason that I have that relationship is because I've used a lot of their products. And the products are exceptional, and it's backed up with the best customer service in the world. But the thing that I love most about Lyson, and I bet people tell you this all the time, is that you never stand still. You never say the design of this pen is now complete. You say, oh well, we can take it apart and we could do this. You're always improving. Tell me a bit about that philosophy.
Our improvement comes from you guys, from Beekeeper, because you have many experiences with equipment, with our equipment, but not only. And we have many, many ideas from you, and we just build some products based on experience from practice.
Yeah, and it's really noticeable. Yeah, I'll give you the example of my equipment. So I have your uncapping machine. I have the gravity-fed one, and it works well. You put 1 or 2 frames in, and the gravity feeds it down. And then Lyson said, nope, we're going to do better than that. And you introduced the chain-fed one, and they've got an unboxer that goes on it as well. So every time I buy something, I'm like, well, let's get the next one. So whenever you're shopping at Lyson, always make sure you get the top product, the brand new one. I do. I very much love all of my Lyson products. So, Tomasz, you've been in the beekeeping circuit for years and years. How did it all start?
We started 30 years ago. My grandfather and father who keep the bees, and of course I heard from young boy our apiary. This is how to say base of beekeeping. And from this moment I started 30 years ago and I have 90 years. We create a company and we start from garage place. We produce the polystyrene beehives. This is the first product which we launch to Polish market and now we are here. It is pleasure for us what I said before and my passion is the technical issues when we talk about the creating of product, etc. My skill, it's my passion also, that classic car, of course, after the work, because everybody should keep balance.
It's a very good point, that one. Everyone has to have a hobby outside of beekeeping, because it can be all-consuming. So I'll ask you this question: what is your favourite classic car?
My favourite classic car is the oldest one, Chevrolet Independence from 1931.
Nice.
It is really nice car to enjoy on free day. It's nice, it's good for, you know, that makes Clean the head.
And that's what we all need, isn't it? We need something to clean the head. So we're at Apimondia, it's all about collaborating, it's all about getting good advice from people. So give me your best piece of advice that you can give to a beginner beekeeper.
My advice, it's, I think the decision for start, it's very good when somebody wants to keep the bees. Of course, bees eat animal and you should remember, take care about the bees. And this is very important, the knowledge and learning from maybe some friends, beekeepers.
So one final question, what is your absolute favourite What's your favourite product that you sell at Lyson?
I think this is a simple product because everybody needs an extractor, and this is our favourite product, and we try to develop and try to build an extractor for beekeepers, what we can do the best.
And your number one, is it 12-frame, 20-frame, 30-frame? If you were going to pick one, what would you go for?
Depends about the apiary.
For an amateur beekeeper, up to say like 10 or 12 hives?
I think cassette extractor, 4 or 6-frame, maybe 10-frame, but the Cassette extractor is the best. Depends about, of course, country and region. When you talk about the UK market, cassette extractor I recommend.
I love the cassette extractor too. We also call it a swing cage basket. Turns it from a radial into a dual spinning automatic tangential spinner. I do love the swing cage basket extractors. So, Tomasz, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.
