Tsvetan Yovov is an engineer at the Kozloduy NPP, as well as a hereditary beekeeper from the city of Kozloduy. He is one of the founding fathers and active participants in the traditional local festival Holiday of Honey.

My name is Tsvetan Yovov, I live in Kozloduy. It is a small Bulgarian town on the banks of the Danube.

I am an electrical engineer and have been working at Kozloduy NPP for 22 years. I am responsible for the correct operation of the protection of power lines, both in Bulgaria itself and international lines starting from our station. However, I have one more thing in life as my second passion is beekeeping.

My friendship with bees began when I was as a child – I was 15 years old.

Our family had a small apiary of 12 beehives. My grandfather Cano was so fond of bees that he took care of them despite his allergies. He taught me everything he knew. Surprisingly, my interest in beekeeping showed itself from the first days and still has not disappeared.

Beekeeping is a delicate matter. Unfortunately, not everything is in my power. An ideal ecology is required for the success of the whole enterprise, therefore, improper processing of crops and use of illegal plant protection products lead to an increase in bees mortality, which means that sometimes one cannot collect honey at all in a year.

I found myself in a similar situation before – once I lost 99% of the bees. You can't give up, you need to go forward. This is what prompted me to get another education, this time in agriculture. Bees need protection, and I am ready to fight for them. A bee is a small insect, but we all know: there will be no bees, there will be no life itself.

Nuclear energy is very important for people and for nature (and therefore bees), because it is the most environmentally friendly source of energy.

I work at the Kozloduy NPP, which is located near the city. The station's motto is “Energy for clean nature.” We have clean nature in Kozloduy, which means healthy bees and healthy people.

Everything is interconnected: nuclear energy, healthy bees, and healthy people.

Family is of great value to me. I was incredibly lucky – my wife also fell in love with bees. My entire family is beekeeping: myself, wife Vanya, son Tsvetan and daughter Stephanie. I want to believe that the secret of our success is working in a friendly team.

We love what we do in the apiary and our clients love us. If you work like a bee, put your soul into business, then people will definitely notice it and will come back many times.

My son chose my path. His goal is to obtain an engineering degree and start working at the Kozloduy NPP.

Of course, I try to teach him beekeeping. He helps me when I ask, and seems to grasp everything on the fly. I am truly happy that a dynasty is taking shape.

Ah, if I had a chance to see Grandpa Cano rejoicing at my success, but I know that he looks down at me from heaven and is proud of me.