Women have taken great steps in the field of beekeeping in Iran, and in this article we have introduced one of these women.
“Zahra Khodakarmi” is a resident of Khodabande city of Zanjan province and she is 36 years old. She studied rural planning until her master’s degree and according to her education, she went to beekeeping and agricultural activities and exploitation in the village.
The area where Mrs. Khodakarmi lives is rich in garden products such as apricots, apples, grapes, walnuts, as well as dry and wet crops such as wheat, beans, lentils, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., which makes her very interested. which has the activities of packing agricultural products and beekeeping, to start beekeeping activities.
The beginning of a story
As a member of Zanjan women farmers, Zahra Khodakarmi says about the beginning of her activity:
“According to my interest and the field that my finances allowed me to work in was the beekeeping sector, I started my work in 1994 with 3 hives, the climate and nature (flowery plains) of the area helped me so that my bees successfully breed and grow. do
In 2016, the three hives became 18, and I used to harvest 10 to 15 kilos of natural and pure honey every year. In 2018, I bought 20 Karnica beehives and added them to my hives and focused on harvesting honey.
Mrs. Khodakarmi continues about the development of her beekeeping activity:
“Activity in the field of beekeeping is of two types:
Hive increase: If you want to increase the number of hives, you must remove the baby from the mother hive and transfer it to an empty hive to increase the number of hives, in this case the mother hive does not have the capacity to produce honey.
Raising bees and harvesting honey: In this method, bee reproduction is reduced to zero, and the hive is fed and cared for in order to harvest honey.
Natural honey has its own customers, Zahra Khodakarmi’s customers are usually those who have stomach diseases, diabetes, etc., and every year they apply for this lady’s reliable pure honey, as they believe that natural honey has helped to cure their diseases.
Zahra plans to buy a garden and transfer the beehives there in order to develop the beekeeping industry. She believes that with the facilities and development of her activity, she can create employment for dozens of people.
About the capacities of Khodabande city, this lady believes that this city has countless potentials and abilities for the development of beekeeping and agriculture, especially in the field of processing, but it has not been properly exploited.
He says that with principled planning and taking into account the advantages, limitations and financial support of institutions related to the development of the region and as a result, we can hope for national development.
Zahra Khodakarmi is the mother of two two-year-old twins, and with the encouragement of her husband, she continues her activities in the field of entrepreneurship. She says about her problems and her advice to other women about beekeeping:
“Beekeeping is a pleasant, sweet and difficult job. In a year of drought, the bees will not have enough nectar to feed and the efficiency of the hive will decrease.
They will have such a difficult winter due to not having enough honey to feed and the lack of hive population for heating. . A very cold winter will kill underpopulated hives.
My advice for women interested in farming and beekeeping is not to wait for ideal conditions (having land, capital, etc.) to start work and activities, but to try to start their work with the least amount and assets in a small area, with hope in God. and start with high motivation so that they can expand their activities in the coming years and be supported by related institutions.”
