From the comb

I may have forgotten to mention that about 20% of the farmers in the co-op I'm working with right now also keep bees. For honey.

Oh my glorious deliciousness. Certified organic, coffee flower, honey.

That is all.

As part of their fair trade inspection, which happened over the past week, we visited 4 different apiaries--due to the lack of protective covering available, the closest I got to the beehives was about 100 feet. Even with protective covering a number of people got stung. Although, the farmers claim to be "used to it;" one even remarked to me that after ten years of beekeeping, the sting was 'in his blood.'

Honey and coffee are complementary commodities here in the highlands--and not just because coffee can be sweetened with honey (not that it it needs it, freshly roasted and ground, I've been enjoying mine without any amendment), but also because coffee plants flower. The harvest for honey is around the peak time of the coffee harvest (Jan/Feb) and the coffee flowers are just starting to show in some places in the highlands (whereas in other cooler climes the last harvest of mature coffee beans is taking place right now. Even still, there was some yet unharvested comb when we went out and we enjoyed a sample before heading to the next community.

The honey part of the cooperative is really still in its development phase, but it is pretty incredible what the farmers have been able to do in just a few years. They are also planning on expanding their production and sales to macadamia nuts, the trees provide shade in the cafetal and the nuts an additional stream of income.

 

 

The coffee harvest is wrapping up and so is my time here. Another few visits out to see what I can see and chat with folks and then I'm heading stateside to see if I can't figure out what it all means.