Philippines: Apiary in the City: Bee farm in the middle of Iloilo City consistently produces sold-out premium honey
The apiary is located in a 600sqm lot that currently contains 16 hives, though the area can comfortably hold up to 20.
By Yvette Natalie Tan
Manila Bulletin
Apr 11, 2021
Excerpt:
De Jesus is a Manila transplant who settled in Iloilo to manage the family business. Around 2009, his brother got into beekeeping and asked if he wanted to try it out as well. “I went into beekeeping as a hobby, and… I saw that there’s money in it. In short… if you take care of [the bees] well and you have a good harvest, you get some money. You get something for your pocket. Literally, the bees are paying for electricity at home, and my water [and] most of my utilities. It’s a reward. It’s like you’re helping them and you’re also helping nature because they are the best pollinators,” he says.
The apiary is located in a 600sqm lot that currently contains 16 hives, though the area can comfortably hold up to 20. “I found that my saturation point for the bees for the foraging area is 20 hives because more than 20, they would be competing too much with each other foraging for nectar and pollen,” de Jesus says. “[Each] hive is just a bit smaller than a balikbayan box.”
The de Jesus family are all beekeepers, though his son Justine Louie is more active in the endeavor than his wife Luth.
