Dominica’s Bee Keepers Stakeholders Conference took place at the Prevo Cinemall in Roseau, Dominica on 24th July 2018.

The turnout was tremendous: the room was filled with professional Bee Keepers, hobbyists and honey-lovers who came to hear the state of the Bee Keeping industry in Dominica. A diverse group of Presenters (see below) painted a very positive picture.

Some highlights of the lively discussions and presentations:

• There is tremendous demand for honey in the local market.
• Honey extracted in Dominica is of high quality.
• There are many ready-made markets, just waiting for our honey to be ready for export (Europe, French West Indies, Cuba).
• Financing is available from the AID Bank for small businesses at a very low interest rate — and special loans are available for Women and Youth (18-35) who are starting a business. From the AID Bank’s perspective, Bee Keeping is a viable industry – so get involved and start up a Bee Keeping business!

Areas to focus on in the Bee Keeping industry moving forward:

• Making the Bee Keepers Cooperative Society strong – all Bee Keepers are encouraged to join.
• Dominica’s honey needs to be properly branded and marketed.
• The Bureau of Standards can help educate Bee Keepers about proper labeling and other procedures for making honey export-ready.
• We need to look at the use of pesticides and its effect on our bees.
• Keep our bees safe – the Ministry of Agriculture prohibits importing bees.
• Begin a Queen-Rearing drive to increase the number of hives in Dominica.

Presenters
Presentations included the following: the Bee Keepers Cooperative (Past President Lennox Fagan), Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Family and Gender Affairs: Registrar of Cooperatives Division (Ms Mariet Canoville), Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Fisheries (Permanent Secretary Dr. Reginald Thomas), Ministry of Commerce, Enterprise & Small Business Development (Permanent Secretary Mrs. Esther Thomas), Division of Trade (Mr Walter), NDFD (Mr Joseph), AID Bank (Ms Josephine Titre), and Invest Dominica (Mr Monelle).

Take a look at some of the displays at the conference:

Bee Keeping Suit, Tools & Beeswax

A Modern Bee Hive

From Dr. Mercola

We look forward to bringing you more information about Bees, Honey and Bee Keeping in Dominica.

In the meantime, grab a good book to learn more about Dominica!