Fanny Caiza even harnesses the benefits of bee venom in a unique venture that started with ten beehives

For almost half of her life, Fanny Caiza (69) has been involved in beekeeping, which is nothing more than raising and caring for bees, along with products such as honey, propolis, wax, pollen and others.

When Fanny found out that this activity failed her, she studied agricultural engineering and worked in public companies. At par, I took care of the bees and collected honey, but sporadically because I had no more time.

“I started training, reading and researching because before there was no internet, there was a lot of reading. So, since I was working, on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, I dedicated myself to beekeeping and already started producing honey.“, he says and adds that this process is mostly carried out by the bee.

“The process of obtaining bee honey is interesting because the bee does everything, it looks for female flowers that will give it nectar. And they deposit it in each cell of the honeycomb and fill it. When the honey is ready, another type of bee comes and produces wax. This closes the cell and means that this is already honey,” explains Fanny.

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And he notes that the harvest can be in eight months, depending on flowering and the number of bees. So, in 2006, Fanny passionately did this activity when she could, until she was robbed: “they lowered all my morale and I had to leave the country,” he says.

However, the desire to continue with this task forced Fanny to return to Ecuador and, through a loan from a relative, decided to start over, this time devoting all her time to it. That return was with ten single-story beehives. Then I added the second floor, frames and I had 200 beehives, he says.

This progress was the result of hard work, but after suffering an attack on his farmwhere they put insecticide and set the bees on fire, managed to save 80 hives. Despite these blows, Fanny proved to be “strong” and even brought out more products.

Now, apart from honey, pollen, propolis, It has cough syrup, mead, soaps, shampoos, candles, lip balm and its famous bee venom salve: It is used for diseases such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, sinusitis, muscle pain, among other diseases. Costs range from $2 to $22.

“I extract the poison. Before, people used to do it with bites and there is a lot of ignorance about that topic and it is not an insult to people, but these are not processes. I trained with professional people and they taught me how to extract the poison without causing the death of the bee“, confirms Fanny, who is also an apitherapist and assures that it is not just about applying cream, a diagnosis is required.

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This entrepreneur uses African bees and already knows their behavior and even which flowers they like best. When the bees approach an area that is far from the hives, he does not scare them, but points out that they should just be allowed to walk in their area. Now, if you’re near hives, make it a point to always use your equipment and smoke to drive them away.

“I am always aware that bees have water because just as flowers need it, so do they, because if they don’t have the conditions to survive, they leave. I try to maintain their paradise so that they don’t leave me,” says Fanny with a laugh.

The entrepreneur sells her products especially at fairs, and some in specialized stores such as Samborondón, through Daule or at home. Its production for sale is about 300 units per month.

For the bee producer, the enterprise is an exploitation activity. “If we’re going to do something that won’t generate us, then why not start. In addition, you have to give it an additional value, which is diversity. For example, there are days when not a single honey is sold, but soaps and shampoos are sold,” he says.

Fanny points out that this process is complicated because there is no alternative. “At 69, they don’t give you a job, so it’s better to do something of your own. But this was not undertaken for the sake of the undertaking itself. A person must be there, that is very important, to have goals, knowledge”, he emphasizes.

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The woman indicates that this activity is one of love and that every achievement is celebrated, such as the purchase of a water generator that was stolen; fix every space on the farm like installing more seats, tables. He says that everything is little by little.

“Thank God, we continue and we already have drinking water, we made this economic effort. Now we can water the plants, the bees have water. God grant that in the future we already have electricity and complete basic services and that we have a decent house,” says Fanny.

His dream was not realized by selling products, but by training more beekeepers in the medicinal part and even open space for tourism, which lives the experience of spinning honey.

Fanny points out that everything is achieved with effort and firmly believes that it will. “That’s why it’s important to feel more comfortable when you start a business. This is very important because otherwise you’ll feel in a straitjacket that you have to do it because it’s time. You think what you’re doing is improving every day,” says Fanny, who likes to see the bees approach her flowers and hear them buzzing.

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