Photograph: ©FAO/ Oğuzhan Karabulut

Ankara - Bees are a key component of our ecosystem and critical to maintaining biodiversity and the balance of nature. Beekeeping also provides a source of income for local people. Last year, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, distributed 400 beehives and auxiliary equipment to four villages as part of the “Sustainable Land Management and Climate Friendly Agriculture” project.

This year, due to high demand, FAO organized a lottery to distribute 1 220 bee hives and equipment to eight other villages in the region. The bee kits consisted of a Caucasian queen bee and bee colony as well as basic beekeeping equipment such as masks, gloves, honey knives, honey candles and queen separation apparatus.

At a ceremony held for the lottery, FAO Project Coordinator, Dr Fatma Güngor, explained that the dual aims of the project are to help protect the environment and nature and support the livelihoods of farmers. She elaborated: “These beehives are being distributed not only to provide additional income to farmers but also to help prevent the extinction of bees. We hope that you will find them useful.”

Mr Nurettin Taş, Director General of the General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion, also spoke at the ceremony emphasizing the importance of helping villages to become self-sustainable. In his speech, he highlighted the requests made in meetings with FAO and local mukhtars to increase the number of beehives and confirmed that “more hives would be distributed throughout the month to help provide villages with additional income.”

One of the beneficiaries, Zeynep Eriş, explained what the project meant to her: “Bees are beneficial to our mountains, gardens and nature. We love them! I have been beekeeping for six to seven years – I feed my children honey because I want them to be healthy. We make use of everything the bees provide – pollen, honey and bee milk. All villagers should do take up beekeeping and develop the practice.”