Good Gifts Catalogue

Busy bees – two good gifts for the price of one!

Beekeeping is an excellent way for rural people in developing countries to create livelihoods. Bees provide valuable harvests of honey and beeswax. At the same time, the bees also pollinate crops and ensure good pollination of wild plants, thus helping to increase crop yield and maintain biodiversity. One of the most environmentally - beneficial ways to create income!

One hive of bees can keep a family provided with honey throughout the year –a significant, healthy nutritional boost. With more than one hive, the family will have a surplus of honey to sell. When groups of beekeepers are supported to become organised, they can together harvest and market significant quantities of honey and beeswax – a proven route out of poverty.

Bees for Development Trust has been selected to feature in the Good Gifts Catalogue. You can buy a hive of bees: £20, 2 hives plus tools and training: £55, establish a beekeeping co-operative: £250.

The price of the gift is passed on to us in full. So, it is an excellent way of solving your gift problems, and supporting our work.

The Good Gifts Catalogue has a wedding list and a wish list service, particularly suitable for special occasions like anniversaries or significant birthdays. You can use Good Gifts as in memoriam presents and keep a few in stock for unexpected birthdays or Christmas gifts.

The purchaser gets a card to give, or keep, acknowledging the gift, along with the guarantee that the gift is always wanted.

The delivery of Good Gifts in India

Keystone Foundation based in the Nilgiri Hills, South India, is a BfD partner organisation with beliefs and principles firmly rooted in the concept of eco-development. Their beekeeping programme meets the needs of the local people by helping them earn income and respect the environment at the same time. With enterprise and marketing expertise provided by Keystone, hundreds of families are able to sell honey in order to earn enough income to meet their household needs. This would not be possible without the help provided by Good Gifts who are supporting this process with beehives and training.

Members of the local community in the Nilgiri Hills receive box hives paid for by Good Gifts. These hives boost their beekeeping businesses and increase their income. Income earned in one year from a household beekeeping enterprise can support a family’s needs for food and medicines.

Keystone also works to facilitate the establishment of marketing groups, which is the key to gaining access to markets on a fair and equitable basis.

Bantan is a beekeeper in Siriyur area of the Nilgiris district. He has been involved in the beekeeping project for the last two years. This year he started harvesting and selling honey from hives given to him by Good Gifts.

This has encouraged him to now actively engage in promoting beekeeping with other villagers. He has received training with Keystone staff on various topics and holds small training programmes in his own village. The species of bees that he keeps are Apis cerana.

The delivery of Good Gifts in Tanzania

Njiro Wildlife Research Centre (NWRC) is our partner organisation in Tanzania and is dedicated to delivering sustainable development solutions using bees. Part of NWRC's programme includes the delivery of training and appropriate beekeeping equipment to local communities. Good Gifts received by NWRC are passed on to members of the community who are most in need and who are part of a programme of support provided by NWRC. The gift of one hive can help build a beekeeping business and lead to increased incomes for some of Tanzania’s poorest families.

Njiro Wildlife Research Centre has an established training apiary where recipients of hives can learn beekeeping skills over the full cycle of a beekeeping year.

Njiro Wildlife Research Centre has a long experience of working with different hive designs and their carpenters produce top quality workmanship.

Recipients of the Good Bee Gifts are never disappointed.

For other ways to support the work of Bees for Development Trust click here

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