Adopt-an-Apiary

Are you ready to embark on an exciting journey where you'll be part of a buzzing community? With Greener Hills Honey Adopt-an-Apiary program, you can now adopt an entire apiary and support local bees and beekeepers in western Kenya. 

An Idea is Born...

It was through our Global Health Connections Community Health and Empowerment Clubs (CHECs) that the Adopt-a-Village idea came to light.  We quickly realized there was a gap between what we wanted to accomplish in our villages and the funding and resources that were currently available. We also realized there were individuals and organizations around the world that wanted to help improve the health and economic well-being of those most in need, but didn’t know how. All that was missing was a program to connect them–a system that allows individuals, clubs, or other groups to sponsor and fund a CHEC, bringing about meaningful change TOGETHER.

Since our Adopt-a-Village program has been successful, we wanted to introduce the same concept for our burgeoning apiaries. Thus, Adopt-an-Apiary. 

Adopt-an-Apiary

The idea is the same. At its core, the program offers the opportunity to adopt either an existing village apiary or to help build an apiary from scratch. Both allow sponsors to actively involve themselves in the maintaining or building of an apiary and to directly affect the economic well-being and sustainability of a village. 

Why beekeeping? 

The demand for honey in Kenya has been rising with each passing year. The local markets can only produce 20 percent of the demand, thus Kenya imports about 80 percent of its honey. This problem presents empowering economic development opportunities for rural Kenyans, especially women. The entire apiculture value chain has potential to create livelihoods for vulnerable groups of rural villagers who are unable to step into traditional agriculture or other rural livelihoods.  

Beekeeping helps address the issue of economic instability too often seen in rural villages, all while emphasizing community involvement and increased biodiversity, both which encourage long-term stability. 

It's hard to imagine what our world would look like without beekeepers or without bees. So our mission is to make sure that our beekeepers get the support needed to carry on doing what they know best - keeping healthy bees and planting native flora they love. Without a shade of doubt, bees – and other pollinators – are essential to our life on Earth. Bees alone are responsible for the pollination of about 1/3 of the food we eat! 

But what does this all look like for our sponsors?

With Adopt-An-Apiary, you will be immersed in the buzzing world of our beekeepers and will have the opportunity to see firsthand how Greener Hills has a direct impact on empowering individuals through our apiaries.  Adoption of an apiary can coincide with the building of a new CHEC apiary or with an existing apiary. 

The program can be tailored specifically to the sponsor's wants and needs.  Greener Hills can personalize the overall experience to ensure sponsors feel they are playing a part in the building and maintenance of an apiary. Options include: 

• A Quarterly newsletter on the progress of the adopted apiary + all the other Greener Hills apiaries 
• Videos and Photos of the apiary and honey harvesting 
• A Virtual Meeting with the apiary manager(s)
• Jars of honey shipped to the donor's home 
• Opportunity to visit the apiary in Kenya

Our experienced on-the-ground beekeeping team oversees and monitors the apiary and coordinates the harvests and honey processing. They also identify apiary needs and growth opportunities, such as adding more hives, apiary expansion, etc. They work closely with the manager(s) to ensure that our apiaries will remain self-sustaining when the direct support concludes. They ensure prompt payment for honey. And, they ensure the biodiversity in and around the apiary is suitable for honeybees, while preserving the native flora. 

Most importantly, they involve YOU.

We want people around the world to be able to experience first-hand how beekeeping can transform lives. We want people to immerse themselves in Kenyan village life and to help make a difference. But most of all, we want people to understand that it’s not just about giving–it’s about equipping members with the right knowledge and tools to empower and support their communities.  

Please consider joining us and adopting an apiary–after all, transforming lives and creating lasting, sustainable change is much more meaningful together. 

To learn more, please contact us at info@globalhealthconnections.org