Your support is sweet like honey!
Your joyful support of Her Time to Grow is helping women in Ghana feel at ease trying a new, and slightly nerve-wracking way to earn income — beekeeping.
Three white beehives sit in the shade beneath some trees in the rural village of Kalbeo. As you approach the hives, you can smell the sweetness of the honey, and hear the bees buzzing as they come in and out. The women’s group setting up this business has two more hives to colonize. They joke and say they’re asking the bees to bring their friends!
The women were nervous at first to work with bees, something they had never done before. It took courage for them to work with bees, and to enter what’s considered a male dominated field in Ghana.
But, because of good past experience with iDE staff, they were trusting when presented with the idea. Beekeeping doesn’t need large amounts of land, and it’s not labour intensive — great for women balancing multiple demands on their time, like childcare, household tasks, and other income-generating work.
Honey is in high demand and can be sold for a good price. The women recently harvested their first five-litres of honey, which can sell for up to $47. Hives can be harvested up to three times per year. The women hope that in a few years they can grow their business and have up to 20 hives, which could earn them $3,540 annually.
Thank you for supporting these queen bees!
