1925, the love for bees was in Alberic Florizoone's genes.  He was the fourth generation of bee cultivators in the family. At the age of 18, Alberic Florizoone began to sell the yield (under the name 'Veurne Ambacht' of the beehives behind the parental house of the shopkeepers of the surrounding villages.

 

In 1935, the early beginning of the honey company Meli and the amusment park Meli started with the opening of the cafeteria and conference room and playgrounds on the property in Adinkerke. 

 

At that time honey was fairly unknown to the man in the street. It was a product occasionally bought by the upper class from the local beekeeper.

 

In order to give greater publicity to this natural product, a large white building was constructed (in Le Corbusier style) with a lecture hall and a cafeteria on the inside. The room where honey was put into jars could also be visited.

Outside there were outdoor cafés around a pond, a children’s playground, a maze and a miniature zoo

 

 

Sunday strollers and their families visited the park and listened with great interest to the lectures of A. J. Florizoone on bees and his Meli honey.

 

The brand name MELI was selected as a pun on the French word "MIEL". Only later was it revealed that "Meli" is also the word for honey in Greek.