Residents to make a beeline for Hatta to learn secrets of top-quality honey
UAE residents will soon be driving to the Hatta mountains to get honey from their own hives.
The Sustainable City, a residential community in Dubai, has bought 250 beehives as part of the My Hive programme launched by a globally known UAE breeder and exporter.
Those who sign up are guaranteed 10 kilograms of honey a year at a cost of Dh2,500 for the first year and Dh1,750 each year after.
About 20 residents have already registered to buy hives in the project, which was unveiled in May.
The programme is part of a drive to increase the beekeeping community and popularise high-quality honey produced in the country.
“My family is hugely excited,” said Jameel Khan, who runs digital strategy in a Dubai bank and lives with his wife and two children in the Sustainable City.
“It makes education tangible. We will get to go into the mountains along with the children and see the honey for ourselves. We will get quality honey and we are making an investment towards a wider ecological cause.
“Bees are on the ecological radar at the moment. Given the threat to them, it’s great to do our bit for the environment here in the UAE.”
The Khans have teamed up with a friend to split the spoils and the fee. They can visit their hives three times a year, starting in September or October.
They will soon be checking activity in the hive from their home using a tracking device.
Each family will be given an identity number to monitor their hive to see how many bees are there and how much honey has been produced.
“We are really fascinated about the app because you can log into your hive and find out how things are going,” Mr Khan said.
“It will give the children an insight into the bees’ activity. From the weight of the hive you can calibrate how much honey is being produced.
“We decided to go halves with a friend because 10kg of honey is a lot by anyone’s standards. Even with partnering in this, the quantity is quite large and we will still have honey surplus to our requirements. We plan to use this as gifts for friends and family.”
The project is run by the Apiculture and Nature for the Betterment of Health and Beauty, one of the largest suppliers in the Gulf region of bee and apiary equipment.
Mohammed Al Najeh, founder of Al Najeh Honey, part of the ANHB Group, believes that while the benefits of honey are understood, there is little knowledge about the quality.
Mr Al Najeh, whose family has long kept bees, wants to promote them in the UAE then spread to other countries.
“It has been a dream for me for a long time to connect people so they understand the benefits of good-quality honey,” he said. “At this stage, honey is not like the normal honey you know. It is like a medicine. That is how great its properties are.”
A third of all food produced globally directly depends on pollination, according to UN data that stresses the role that bees and other pollinators play in the ecosystem.
Preservation of the creatures is critical for food security and sustainability as bee populations worldwide are in decline because of human activity.
“The way I see it there are two worlds, with the beekeepers in a different community and the normal consumer in another,” Mr Al Najeh said. “People want pure honey, but don’t know how to verify that what they are consuming is pure.
“They have no knowledge about how it is produced, what it takes to raise the bees, what are the standards. At least 40 per cent of honey in the world is actually not honey made by bees. It’s only a syrup with some material to make it taste like honey.
“With the project, residents are curious and will learn about well-organised colonies where everyone has a role – from the queen to the worker bee.
“We need to connect them to the bees, to this world, because it’s a unique process. They will get to know the secrets of this world.”
Experts say it is impractical to have an apiary closer to home because bees need the best surroundings and location to produce quality nectar.
“People may like to have a hive at home, but will not be able to take care of it,” Mr Al Najeh said.
“This programme fixes the issue because you can regularly see the bees and understand the breeding system.
“We cannot force bees to produce honey in a place that we want. So it’s best to take the residents to the original spot.
“Bees are important to our planet. We want to connect people to the local bee keeper, then they don’t have to go to the supermarket to buy honey. We hope to make this a global initiative so people can sign for hives on a website and others can also benefit.”
The Sustainable City was a natural choice because it alhouses three hives to enhance pollination in the community.
Karim Al Jisr, executive director of the city’s innovation centre, said lack of transparency about high-quality honey and the need to promote local nectar prompted the project.
There are plans to allow residents outside of the community to buy hives, and for a honey shop.
“Our priority is the residents, and after that the programme will be open to others,” Mr Al Jisr said. “It’s not just about redeeming that honey jar. They will also be exposed to the science of honey production.”