Did you read our last book titled Business Opportunities for Zimbabweans? We covered plenty of opportunities including some researches and interviews. One of the opportunities we covered in the agriculture chapter was beekeeping. Look for the book and read on page 35. Below we feature one of the viral posts in our forums concerning beekeeping;
Yesterday l met a 24 year old guy at WINPAT in Harare opposite Gain Cash and Carry. He is from Buhera and graduated from Harare Polytechnic with a diploma in boiler making.
He was driving a fancy Lexus vehicle and he was buying turkey feed whilst I was buying de-worming tablets for my goats. In Harare he stays in Tynwald South where he built a house. Now here is a shocker…the youngster is only 24!
The transformation
It dawned upon the youngster that he had no relatives in the capital to offer him accommodation or financial support. He was on his own in the capital! Some of his peers were job hunting and some having turned to vending on the streets of Harare. Some had trekked to the diaspora.
What next?
The only last thing that came to his mind mashoko ababa vake ekuti simba rehove ririmumvura ( the power of a fish is in the water) meaning our roots kumusha, if we think fast ndokunobva financial freedom!
Tried to do fish farming but faced water challenges due to low rainfalls. Tried a hand on cattle rearing but there were no sufficient pastures. End of the road? Not really…
Then he attended a 1 day workshop on beekeeping costing US$5.00 and was empowered for life.
So he headed to his rural home, kwakucheka miti and mapuranga kwakugadzira mikoko 50 and kwakuuya kuHarare kwakutenga maold pallets kwakunogadzira mikoko.
He now has 300 beehives and all he did was to buy wax or namo yekuisa mumikoko and as we speak he literally has thousands! Hold on- thousands? Yes he has bees working for him lol
Harvesting
Harvesting takes place every 2,5 months or 4 times per year.
Each beehive gives him 40 litres of honey but he can only harvest half and leaving the remainder.
Each beehive therefore gives him 80 litres of honey.
Wholesale price of honey ranges from US$2-US$5.00.
Do the maths
His revenue is a minimum of US$160 per beehive to a maximum of US$400 per year.
Now do the rest of the maths on how much revenue he gets per annum!
Future Plans
Does it now maketh business sense why he managed to build a home in the capital at such a tender age? At what age did you build your first home?
The business does not require much labour unlike other business ventures and the youngster has plans to go fully commercial and increase the number of beehives to 1000. Who says rural areas are outposts of poverty?
We end by quoting a leading entrepreneur from Kadoma, Mr Low who says;
Financial freedom haineyi nekuita degree it’s just basic education and common sense!
