It doesn't take a wise man or woman to realize how delightful it is to give locally produced honey this holiday season. Especially in light of recent news questioning the safety of Big Honey - in short, real honey has pollen, and if it doesn't have pollen, it might not actually be entirely honey - buying honey that isn't afraid of showing where it's from is a tasty idea, not to mention good for local businesses and economies and good for you.
But - perish the thought - what if your recipients start rolling their eyes at another jar of liquid gold? Besides reminding them that honey is better than fruitcake, what else can you do to show your love of honey and their "producers," honeybees?
Two charities offer a terrific alternative - you can give honeybees! In doing so, you are helping people in the developing world. Heifer International is probably more widely known for allowing people to "give" livestock such as cows and goats to families and farmers around the world as a means toward building a better life. Less known is the fact that you also can give honeybees, for only $30.
Kiva, on the other hand, is riding the rising tide of micro-lending, loaning funds to budding entrepreneurs around the world who need a hand in getting a business off the ground, or maybe off the mat. The idea is that if lots of people give a little money, lots of good can come from it.
(Full disclosure: I have participated in both of these. My partner gave me money last February to donate to Kiva, and I just made my second loan, this one to an Armenian farmer who is trying to expand his cattle and beekeeping business. Additionally, I "bought" honeybees from Heifer in honor of my best friend's birthday.)
Heifer has offered honeybee gifts for more than a decade, according to Tim Wheeler, who works in Heifer's office in Honduras. In an email response to a series of questions, he said they range in locations from Lituania to Latin America, with about 1,000 families in Honduras alone.
"With forty hives, I have heard a farm family makes about $4,000-6,000 gross on the conservative side. Half would be profit," he wrote.
Wheeler said that some of the Heifer participants are already beekeepers, while others receive training in advance of receiving their hives, and then receive ongoing training afterward from local farming cooperatives in which they participate.
"Heifer staff does followup and monitoring of projects on a regular basis," Wheeler wrote. "The local partner, often a co-op, provides technical assistance, has supplies available, and a micro credit program. Farmers have to pass on the value of the hive that they receive with either honey or the cash equivalent for another farmer."
Heifer also has worked with beekeepers in the United States - it recently partnered with the Clinch Valley Beekeepers Association in East Tennessee, where a grant enabled officers and other leaders of the organization to gain more training from the University of Tennessee's extension office.
Heifer beekeepers operate their hives both on their own properties and on local farms.
"The most successful rent out hives to pollinate crops and move them two to three times a year, increasing honey production that way," Wheeler wrote. "There is a dry and wet season in the tropics and subtropical areas, so moving them helps to feed them with seasonal flowering of tress and flowers."
Wheeler said he has not heard of problems with these honey producers and the larger issue of so-called "honey-laundering," instances where large suppliers and exporters blend or dilute their honey with other substances or even go so far as to mislabel them as being from other points of origin, often to avoid heavy U.S. tariffs.
"[Selling their products] is done through their co-op," Wheeler wrote. "One example is a co-op of 110 members who sell in the local and national market in supermarkets.
"Others sell at farmer's markets. I haven't heard of any problems of honey laundering. Probably the scale of these projects would mean that they tie into the concept of local markets and sustainable livelihoods that is promoted in the programs."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm awaiting word from Kiva on its honey and beekeeping opportunities, but I wanted to share this with you in time for the holiday. Meanwhile, a quick search on Kiva's website shows several Armenian farmers seeking funding for their beekeeping operations.
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For more information about giving the gift of honeybees, visit Heifer's website; for more info on helping developing beekeeping entrepreneurs, visit Kiva online.
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Photo shows a Heifer beekeeper (photo courtesy of Heifer).
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