ACF was a buzz with its first honey harvest this week. None of ACF’s members had worked with bees before, so the process of setting up the hives, working with the bees and harvesting honey was a huge learning curve for us all.
Through a series of trainings ACF learnt each step of beekeeping. Finally, a year later we reached the last step, honey production.
Beekeeping was ACF’s first project for a couple reasons. Located on a macadamia estate, bees were essential to pollinate the surrounding trees. The difference between the nut productions on trees near ACF’s apiary and those further away is incredible. Macadamia trees surrounding the apiary are full of nuts.
It was also important that members would learn a new skill. Beekeeping needs hours of training and practice and setup costs are high. Most ACF members wouldn’t have the opportunity to learn beekeeping skills without the foundation’s support. Hopefully, these skills will make it back to the ACF’s women’s community and continue to raise profits for them.
Finally, honey is a high value product that will be sold to raise funds for ACF’s projects.
ACF will continue to grow its sweet business with more hives and jars of honey in the near future.
acfmalawi.com 