FELIX LESINAIVALU
Being a sweet tooth Georgia Wise, 26, took it upon herself to start her honey bee farm with the agricultural land that her father had offered to her in Savusavu.
“For years I’d always try and incorporate honey in my baking and in my diet instead of everyday brown sugar. In 2016, I started thinking how expensive honey was getting and I noticed the quality of honey I was getting was not really good.”
“In the beginning I wanted to begin bee farming more for a business, but after two years of travelling back and forth from Savusavu and caring for my hives, I grew to love doing it and it became more of a hobby for me. I really started to understand how bees work, their life cycle, and their biology. They are really one of the most interesting and probably the most beneficial to the world.”
Ms. Wise first went into Kava farming with the land provided and then with re-search, she finally began her bee farm.
“I began with a course that was offered by the Ministry of Agriculture in Nausori, it was the first module on farming bees.”
“I was so interested and so I hired the trainer at the Ministry to help me build my own boxes and organize everything I needed for farming.”
At the moment Ms. Wise has five double hives which she has built on her own.
“I had built my own boxes and there were a lot of equipment used at the beginning, like the different timber and machinery but I knew that it would work out cheaper if I was planning to expand my farm.”
“I have always felt that I’ve wanted to do business, creating jobs, contributing to a healthier economy and what better way than through the agriculture sector. Apart from the obvious, bees are a very important group of pollinators and are very important to agriculture.”
Ms. Wise hopes to go expand her bee farm this year to create a consistent supply of honey to start selling.
“After harvesting the honey, it is bottled in Savusavu then shipped to Suva where my mother distributes it to friends and family. I would like to thank my parents who have always supported me with this and helped me whenever I needed.”
Ms. Wise currently resides in Australia and with the help of family, the bees are in capable hands.