HONEYBEE HEROES

Not all heroes wear capes, and the busy bees at Honeybee Heroes are certainly worth their weight in liquid gold.

Situated in the heart of the Overberg, the Honeybee Heroes honeybee sanctuary and education centre seeks to create accessible, sustainable opportunities for South Africans to protect and engage with the environment, while staying grounded in the conservation of South Africa’s Capensis honeybee.

The Honeybee Heroes mission is three-fold: 1. To play an active role in reversing the decline of the Cape honeybee 2. To uplift low-income South Africans through beekeeper training and community micro-apiary management 3. To educate South African consumers on eco-friendly food choices and advocate for the purchase of ethically produced, local foods

HIVES & HONEYBEES

The Western Cape is home to a very unique honeybee subspecies called the Apis Mellifera Capensis, or Capensis for short, which is increasingly at risk due to farming and beekeeper malpractice, climate change and habitat loss.

To conserve the Capensis honeybee, Honeybee Heroes runs an Adopta-Hive programme to help boost Capensis colony numbers while giving eco-minded consumers a chance to learn more about —and get actively involved in — the beekeeping industry without the responsibility of caring for a hive at home. In this programme, interested individuals can sponsor, or ‘adopt’, a personalised honeybee hive to be placed on their farm in the Overberg or other suitable private land nearby, which is then cared for by their expert beekeepers.

Since their founding in 2020, they have placed over 700 honeybee hives in the Overberg and beyond, giving millions of honeybees a new home to live, grow and thrive. They also host free, monthly beekeeping courses on their farm in Stanford Valley for people interested in learning more about the industry, and they recently launched a community micro-apiary programme, in which they’ll be training up a new generation of young female beekeepers from low-income communities across the country to care for their own micro-apiaries on behalf of Honeybee Heroes.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Honeybees may be small, but they’ve got a big role to play in ensuring South Africa’s future food security and precious bio-diversity. If you want to get involved in honeybee conservation, there’s a lot you can do — both at the shops and in your daily life — to help.

First, make sure that you’re purchasing ethically produced, raw honey from local producers.

By purchasing your honey at Wellness Warehouse, you’re supporting South African beekeepers who take care of their bees and produce only high-quality, raw honey. “

WANT TO DO A LITTLE MORE TO HELP?

Adopt a honeybee hive through Honeybee Heroes! Anyone can adopt a hive for themselves, a loved one, or even a business. When you adopt a hive, Honeybee Heroes will set up a brand-new hive with your name on it in an ideal location for a new bee colony to build its home. In return, you’ll get six jars of raw, Honeybee Heroes honey, plus the opportunity to visit their sanctuary, gear up in a beekeeping suit and join the Honeybee Heroes team in learning all about your new hive. They’ve got many adoption options available, giving you the opportunity to choose from various thank you boxes including a specialty box with beeswax and propolis products, a children’s box, or even honeybee-branded veldschoens.

They also host free monthly beekeeping courses, or you can spend a few days on their farm by booking one of their self-catering chalets.

If you’re interested in learning more about Honeybee Heroes, adopting a hive, or attending one of their courses, you can check them out at HoneybeeHeroes.com, or follow them on Instagram @honeybeeheroes or Facebook @honeybeeheroesza.

“We believe that consumers have an incredible capacity for impact when they make responsible food purchases. That’s why we’re so excited to partner with Wellness Warehouse to help spread awareness about the plight of the honeybees, and to educate their consumers about the importance of buying raw, local honey. As South Africa’s largest health and wellness organisation, we know that the Wellness Warehouse community is filled with like-minded individuals who are just as dedicated as we are to making a positive impact on the environment. Through this collaboration, we can merge our two communities to help save the bees and inspire thousands of South Africans to live an eco-friendlier lifestyle.”

Chris Oosthuizen, Honeybee Heroes founder