Take bee-keeping business seriously, entrepreneurs

Lungelo Ndhlovu Business Correspondent
SMALL and Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development Minister Sithembiso Nyoni has urged entrepreneurs in bee-keeping business to take the project seriously as it has the potential for significant earnings on the export market.
Bee-keeping business is a new phenomenon that is being embraced by the country and it involves experts in the extraction of honey.
In an interview, Minister Nyoni encouraged all those in bee-keeping to demonstrate total commitment in order to realise profits.
“There is a huge demand of honey throughout the country and outside. I encourage our people country wide to take the bee-keeping business seriously because it offers a lot of lucrative returns,” said Nyoni.

At the moment, she said, there were quite a number of well-developed groups of bee-keepers across the country and experts were also involved in the extraction of honey.

“There are so many people involved in bee-keeping in the country, ranging from Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland South (Esigodini) and Matabeleland North (Nkayi).”

She said the country was endowed with forestry that is natural, adding that this made it possible to sustain the bee-keeping business.
“People across the board like our honey because it contains medicinal properties that can treat certain ailments. This could be the other reason why people in South Africa and other places buy honey from us,” said Nyoni.

She said the bee-keeping business was not labour intensive.
Minister Nyoni said her ministry was supportive of entrepreneurs in bee-keeping business in order to impact positively on economic development.

“In the coming months we will be rolling out awareness campaigns throughout the country in order to encourage people to take the bee-keeping business seriously and also to give them technical support so that they gain returns,” she said.