Sharks and bees are crucial for the existence of the human race. Johan saw it in a documentary and was immediately inspired. From that moment on, he has been committed to the ecological balance of our planet by keeping bees, of course, sharks seemed a bit difficult to keep at home.

Life as a beekeeper sounds easy-going but that could not be further from the truth. City-beekeeper Johan, better known as ‘the Nectartist’, needs to navigate through the city like a busy bee. From the moment he heard about Mechelen’s subsidy scheme for cargo bikes, things took off quickly.

“It is faster than a car, and we don’t waste any time looking for parking.”

After starting his city-bee farm, he launched a web shop with beekeeping products, beehives on the roof of various companies in Mechelen and since April he can also be found with a little shop in the Vleeshalle:

Johan: “We used to use a van for all our deliveries and supplies, but that wasn’t very practical or fast. Last year, when I saw the city launch the cargo bike subsidy scheme for entrepreneurs, I didn’t hesitate. From there, things were arranged pretty quickly.”

“Since then, you can find me and my colleagues cruising around the city on a cargo bike. We use the bike for almost all our trips in Mechelen: for smaller deliveries, to go back and forth between our shop, the beehives and our little shop in the Vleeshalle, for private use, … You name it! It hasn’t even been a year since we purchased the bike and we already have more than 1000 km on the clock.”

“It’s an electric cargo bike, so it’s really fast! It’s also faster than a car, and we don’t waste any time looking for parking.”