Dominica’s Bee Keepers Stakeholders Conference took place at the Prevo Cinemall in Roseau, Dominica on 24th July 2018.

The turnout was tremendous: the room was filled with professional Bee Keepers, hobbyists and honey-lovers who came to hear the state of the Bee Keeping industry in Dominica. A diverse group of Presenters (see below) painted a very positive picture.

Some highlights of the lively discussions and presentations:

  • There is tremendous demand for honey in the local market.
  • Honey extracted in Dominica is of high quality.
  • There are many ready-made markets, just waiting for our honey to be ready for export (Europe, French West Indies, Cuba).
  • Financing is available from the AID Bank for small businesses at a very low interest rate — and special loans are available for Women and Youth (18-35) who are starting a business. From the AID Bank’s perspective, Bee Keeping is a viable industry – so get involved and start up a Bee Keeping business!

Areas to focus on in the Bee Keeping industry moving forward:

  • Making the Bee Keepers Cooperative Society strong – all Bee Keepers are encouraged to join.
  • Dominica’s honey needs to be properly branded and marketed.
  • The Bureau of Standards can help educate Bee Keepers about proper labeling and other procedures for making honey export-ready.
  • We need to look at the use of pesticides and its effect on our bees.
  • Keep our bees safe – the Ministry of Agriculture prohibits importing bees.
  • Begin a Queen-Rearing drive to increase the number of hives in Dominica.

Presenters
Presentations included the following: the Bee Keepers Cooperative (Past President Lennox Fagan), Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Family and Gender Affairs: Registrar of Cooperatives Division (Ms Mariet Canoville), Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries (Permanent Secretary Dr. Reginald Thomas), Ministry of Commerce, Enterprise & Small Business Development (Permanent Secretary Mrs. Esther Thomas), Division of Trade (Mr Walter), NDFD (Mr Joseph), AID Bank (Ms Josephine Titre), and Invest Dominica (Mr Monelle).

Take a look at some of the displays at the conference:

Bee Keeping Equipment

Beeswax & Honey

Bee Keeping Suit, Tools & Beeswax

A Modern Bee Hive

Interesting Facts about Honey

Honey is healthy!

It has many medicinal properties such as being an antibacterial, anti-fungal and antioxidant.

It can be used to make body care products such as Blissful Bee Multi-purpose Balm (pictured at right). This is one of the products currently being made right here in Dominica.

Blissful Bee Multi-purpose Balm

We look forward to bringing you more information about Bees, Honey and Bee Keeping in Dominica.

In the meantime, grab a good book to learn more about Dominica!

Beekeeping Equipment

Beekeeper Equipment

Be a Beekeeper!