When Tume Abata first saw bees buzzing around her compound right outside her house two years ago, she had no idea she would one day be introduced to outsiders as a beekeeper. The mother of four lives in Jaldesa, Marsabit County.
She is proud of the fact that her proximity to the Marsabit forest has contributed greatly to the success of her new business.
"My house is close to the forest and there are many bees here because we don't cut down trees. I decided to put a container outside and the bees started coming in. I didn't know what to do with them because every day they were multiplying inside the container," she told Seeds of Gold.
She later learned that the bees found comfort in her home because the water tank around it was always wet. This realisation led her to consistently add water in a separate container that was always outside her house.
She did this every day so that her new visitors would feel at home. "I started this venture when I had no prior knowledge of the sweetness of honey, and when I realised that bees have benefits, I started adding water to the containers," she explains.
Her gesture of quenching the thirsty bees caught the attention of her daughter during the school holidays. The daughter then introduced her mother to her teachers, who run a beekeeping club. The teachers were intrigued and visited Abata to confirm the information.
They took photos of Abata and her husband, as well as the container with the bees, before leaving. A month later, the team visited Abata again at her home. This time they brought her two beehives, marking the beginning of her beekeeping journey.
"I washed the inside of the two hives that were given to me. Since I already had some bees in the 20-litre container, I called people in our community to help me move them. After a few minutes, I saw bees coming into the hives," she says.
She did not yet know anything about beekeeping, except that they needed to be kept in a safe, well-connected place on the branches of a tree raised above the ground and away from the house. Abata then went to school and asked the teachers to teach her about the bees in their hives.
Her wish to learn was granted, and in May 2024 she attended a three-day training course on how to make a living from beekeeping. Armed with knowledge, the mother of four says she took up beekeeping with confidence. She also started educating her friends about the benefits of beekeeping.
"I got the knowledge and came back to my home to use my skills and also share by teaching my neighbours. The teachers told me that if I was not satisfied with the knowledge, I would reap the fruits," she adds.
Three months later, she had her first harvest after the training she had received. She says it was an exciting moment for her when the experts confirmed that she had honey ready for harvest.
"That day I got a litre of honey and my children tasted it and we found that it was sweet. From that moment on, we began to feel the sweetness of honey," she tells Seeds of Gold.
Her first harvest motivated her to continue beekeeping. Every day, the number of bees increased, leading to a bumper harvest, which she had in September 2024, this time looking for a market.
"I hired someone who is very knowledgeable about beekeeping and bee harvesting to come and harvest for me and I got five litres from each of the hives which I sold and got Sh10,000," says Abata.
As a herder, she says she used some of her earnings to buy a goat, which she has entrusted to her son. She has also added another beehive to increase her chances of harvesting more honey in future.
"These bees need water, so we usually put water. They can consume 10 litres of water per day. We also put sugar in the water container. To prevent the bees from dying inside the water container, we usually put grass so that the bees can stand on it and not fall into the water and drown," she says.
Marsabit is known for beekeeping and Abata has just joined the many beekeepers in the county. She says that as she continues to learn and harvest honey, which is now consumed by different people, she also shares her knowledge with other women.
For example, she is the secretary of the Bahari Women's Group. Each of the group's 20 members is a beekeeper within the Jaldesa site. By coming together, they empower each other on how to improve beekeeping to reach wider markets.
"I usually put a five-litre container in a box and write down the details of the customer. When the driver gets to Nairobi, my customer picks it up and pays the driver for the transport, which is a friendly fee," she says.
The Bahari Women Group works with the Student Beekeeping Club in Marsabit County. They say they thrive by teaming up with the students, as this increases their chances of learning from the young scientists.
Through teamwork, Abata says, they encourage each other and save their earnings to pay school fees and keep their children in school. They also buy animals such as goats and cows.
"Together with my husband, we bought a local cow that we breed differently by not grazing it, so it produces more litres of milk, unlike the other cows that walk long distances to feed. It has already given birth once and produces four litres of milk every morning," she says.
Abata practices mixed farming to ensure that her food baskets are not empty. As well as beekeeping, she grows beans and maize and has a vegetable garden.
Her agricultural skills have made her famous in her community, where she is described as a strong woman worthy of emulation. Although she has not given up livestock farming, she says that beekeeping is more profitable for her.
