A Stop at The Beehive, Rakiraki
Local travel is the in thing now. If you are planning to take an overdue vacation or just a weekend trip on the Suncoast, than you are in luck.
There are a couple of good accommodation providers along the Suncoast.
One that would probably fit those looking for a more affordable relaxed outdoor environment is the BeeHive.
The BeeHive Fiji Resort used to be an orphanage run by a church from New Zealand.
The agri-tourism homestay is located in a sugarcane field surrounded by mountains, situated in a valley overlooking the sea.
It is halfway to Nadi and Suva, approximately two and a half hours both ways.
The BeeHive has five rooms with four types of accommodation offered.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, taking a toll on our tourism industry, The BeeHive is fortunate to have it organic Fijian Made honey keeping them afloat.
With a budget of $200:
With a $200 budget that will easily cover accommodation for two days and meals and you can either go trekking, horseback riding or even a village trip depending on numbers.
Accommodation
■The QueenBee Deluxe is a self- contained room that can sleep five adults, this is $170;
■The Honey Bees are private rooms that can sleep four adults, this is $130;
■The Drones are shared dormitories that can sleep four per dorm, this is $45;
■A■d the Hive Tents that can sleep six to nine adults at $100 per tent.
Service
Bee Hive owner Mark Hirst-Tuilau said: “Because we are a homestay we don’t cook unless we get bookings.
“Our meals are dependent on our guest’s preference as well as what we have harvested from our little garden.
“Our breakfast ranges from $5-$15, lunch from $10-$15 and dinner from $20-30, it is a two course meal.”
The owners recently refurbished their rooms. “Our main plan is to be as green as we possibly can with getting in solar panels.
“We already have our own water supply and are just waiting for the final stages.
“Our own gardens so we can supply our own veggies. We hope to expand our beehives and be able to meet the demand.
“There are other little projects going mainly just waiting for everything to come to normal before we can think of investing.”
New hobbies
It is phasing to solar energy for hot water and is currently harvesting trapped roof water for basic needs.
The ecotourism venture advocates on the importance of bees for food security in light of challenges such as climate change, use of pesticides and loss of habitat and biodiversity.
Its future plans include the establishment of a Honey Education Centre to help surrounding bee farmers.
They are looking at focusing on the by-products such as mead and wax.
Mr Hirst-Tuilau: “We hope to get assistance to be able to turn the venture into a training school to be able to empower more women and youths.
“Bee farming is not hard and can be done by anyone.
“We encourage more people to get into the business.
“Also we hope that the relevant authorities look at ways to assist the apiary farmers.
“We are fortunate to get training but hope to train others on the next stage, from harvesting, to packaging and marketing.
“There is a huge demand for honey locally and if the Beekeepers Association worked closely with farmers we would be able to meet the supply and also start looking at exporting the honey.
“If bees went extinct in a day, it would take human-kind to last only three years before we all perished.”
Challenges
Mr Hirst-Tuilau said: “We have not had the best days but because we are fortunate to have our organic Fijian made honey we have been able to stay afloat.
“Rakiraki was not any easy place to find people who want to work.
“We have had a few along the way and unfortunately they have had personal obligations and have chosen to stay home and farm to look after their families.
“We would like to thank them for their loyalty and dedication when they served their time. “When you find someone who is good it is hard to have to find someone else to be just as good.
“We only hire when we have huge bookings. Because we only have five rooms we manage as we go.”