The first documented reference to the Muria lineage is Rafel Muria Queralt. His son, Rafel Muria Llambrich, born in 1850, was the founder and president of the first “Ligajo de colmenas”, what we would know as nowadays as an association. This document consists of 225 associates and 1820 declared beehives.
He was one of the first beekeepers from El Perelló to change the antique hives made from straw and cork for new square wooden ones, which would later be named Layens. With these hives he started to practice beekeeping transhumance (seasonal migration of hives).
History continues
The history continues with Rafel Muria Galve, born in 1901. He started beekeeping at a very young age, and with more than 235 Muria family hives practicing transhumance searching for the best blossoms in the mountainsides in El Perelló and the nearby villages.
The fourth generation of the family is represented by Rafel Muria Benet, born in 1929. At the Young age of 16, his father handed him down the family beekeeping business. One of his contributions was the substitution of beehives with 20 frames, to 18, to 16, and finally to 12, still used today. He was one of the first beekeepers in El Perelló to use this type of hive. He also continued transhumance, further away, all around Catalonia, Teruel and Valencia. His transport means went from using horse and carriage, to motorbike, to train and bicycle until he finally got a lorry.
Actually the Muria family is represented by Rafel Muria Martí, born in 1964. Together with his brother-in-law Vicent Brull Llaó, born in 1955 they maintain the artisanal art of the family beekeeping in perfect harmony with applying new technology in machinery and concept of business management.
And in these last years the sixth generation of the family Vicent Brull Muria, has been incorporated in the company.
The year 1999 the Muria family transfer their installations to the place that the company actually occupy to expand the business and optimize work.
It is an 800m2 warehouse, situated at the entrance of El Perelló, with the office; storage for the drums of honey; automatic bottling plant and a finished product area.
In these same installations, also in 1999 the Muria family started to put together antique beekeeping tools, historical documents to from a museum with the popular and renowned “honey fountain”.
The museum, equipped with a cinema room, has enhanced significantly everything about the beekeeping world: guided tours of the museum, outings to the countryside to learn about the life of the bees and organized educational workshops to teach everything we know about the curios world of bees and honey.
It is calculated that in between the years 1999 and 2011, more than one hundred thousand people of all different age groups, from all over the country and different places from Europe visited the museum.
The museum has added more value to the Muria family’s normal activity.
And, in august 2011, the Muria family start a new challenge: to start Muria Apiarian Interpretation Centre, inaugurated by the president of the Government of Catalonia, Artur Mas December 3rd 2011. The Centre was awarded with the Cartanyà Prize in the event of the 22nd Tourism Night organised by Tarragona’s council, and is situated in Avenida Catalunya, 23 in El Perelló.
The creation of the Centre also implied various improvements in machinery for honey extraction and bottling, with new latest tech machines.
