Aspiring beekeeper strives to revive Egypt’s honey industry

BEING a successful petroleum engineer did not block the dreams of 32-year-old Egyptian Mohammed Hagras to be a distinguished beekeeper.

Hagras decided to start a beekeeping business at his farm because he believed that honey and bee production were among the safest investments in the most populous Arab country.

His first introduction to beekeeping was at the age of 6 when he used to help his father at their farm.

“It was love at first sight when I first stepped into our bee farm as it was my window to see nature.

“From that moment, I wanted to be a beekeeper and enlarge my father’s beekeeping business,” Hagras said, proudly smiling.

On his farm located in Be- heira governorate in Egypt’s Delta, Hagras, who is originally from the Delta governorate of Minufiya, was carefully watching his workers collecting ripe honey from his 500 beehives, announcing the beginning of the heavy honey collection season which started this month.

“I started to take care of my father’s business in 2014,” Hagras said, wearing his beekeeping protective suit. “I started with tens of beehives. Now I have 500.”

Before starting his beekeeping career, Hagras studied the project carefully and gained enough information and knowledge that would help him run the business successfully.

“I found out that the beekeeping business is a successful industry that can make good money,” he said as he peeled off wax cells to get fresh golden honey. “I also take advantage of living in a rural community where villagers plant seasonal crops that can be good food for the bees.”

In a very short period of time, Hagras managed to create a name in the Egyptian honey market and he now runs a private company which exports honey and bee products to other countries.

“My beehives produce about 5 000 tons of natural honey that I sell locally.

“I also export other products such as pollen, wax, bee venom and queen food to neighbouring Arab countries,” he said.

Hagras said he was now working jointly with other beekeepers to put Egypt back on track as a leading country in the honey and bee industry.

He said Egypt was one of the oldest countries in the beekeeping field, adding that the Pharaonic drawings and paintings on tombs and other monuments in Egypt showed how beekeeping was practised there.

The ancient Egyptians kept bees from about 2400BC when the earliest drawings of beekeeping and honey preparation were seen in Egyptian temples, he added.

These drawings showed that beekeeping in ancient Egypt was characterised by using cylindrical hives, migratory beekeeping using rafts down the Nile River and production of huge amounts of honey.

Hagras said Egypt was considered the most important country in the beekeeping sector in the Middle East with more than three million beehives.

According to official sta- tistics, Egypt exported honey and bee products worth up to $135 million last year, a very large number compared to the previous two years.

“The bee and honey industry is a national wealth that should be supported by the government,” the engineer said, adding that the government could earn billions in foreign currency if it fully supported the sector.

The high prices of beekeeping materials and equipment obstructed or lowered the development of the industry, which required a governmental intervention to financially and technically back beekeepers, he said.

“One of the most serious problems facing the Egyptian beekeeper is the lack of the original medications for the diseases facing the beekeeping sector. This opens the door to the mafia of fake, local and smuggled medicines,” Hagras said while pouring honey in glass jars.

He expects that a new system overseen by the government will make Egypt a pioneering country in the honey industry since Egypt is the only country capable of producing bees and queens throughout the year for the vast agricultural areas it has.

“All of these elements can make Egypt a qualified country to be a global station for beekeeping.

“The global marketing of the beekeeping sector in Egypt will be a good investment that will pump millions of dollars and provide many jobs for thousands of Egyptian youths,” said Hagras. – ANAXinhua