“I have the house because of the bees,” she said. Her house is built on land she inherited. When Traidcraft visited in October 2007, she explained that constructing a new home for her and her five children has been a lengthy process
“I started building this place in 1998 and I am not finished yet,” she said, pointing to the spaces where the internal doors will be. “I am living at my granny’s now with my kids. We made the decision as a family to move up the hill. I have a stove and I will bring it in and have it for wintertime.”
Celia’s income from honey has not only paid for her house, but helped her to access a government housing subsidy.
“Since the amount of money that the state gave me is small, the money that came from my side was from the honey production.”
The last two years have been difficult for Celia as she has juggled family life with lab work and keeping bees. But honey is still a major part of her plans, which is why – with the help of her children and a cousin - she has built a harvesting room beside her new house.
“I am now down to 17 hives,” she said. “But by the end of the season I should have 50 hives again.”
So what are her plans for the future?
“Well, I am going to be living here,” she said, sitting in her new home. “My bee yards will be here and my extraction room will be working. And I will still be continuing supporting my kids in their education.”
As well as keeping bees, Celia works part-time in the Apicoop lab after receiving training through the co-op.
“Well, I started as a beekeeper and I am still a beekeeper,” she said. “I have been doing training in the co-op slowly since I showed interest in this area, as there was nobody in charge of the lab. I have been three years developing analysis for the beekeepers in the co-operative.
About Apicoop
Apicoop sells honey for its 120 members in the eastern region of Valdivia, and for about 500 other beekeepers elsewhere in the country. All export sales are to fair trade organisations. Honey from Apicoop is used in our Geobars.
Beekeepers for Apicoop talk freely about the huge difference fair trade benefits have made to their lives. They have access to low-interest loan schemes, and the opportunity to share resources and experience to develop their honey-producing capacity and increase their standard of living.
Buy fair trade honey
You can buy honey from Apicoop on our webstore.
