Skip to content
Donate

Honey farms · sweet prospects for families

Honey for Butiru and the surrounding area

In eastern Uganda many families live from small-scale farming. Failed harvests from drought or heavy rain hit them hard, and a reliable income is often missing. This is where honey farms come in: with modest means they create a sustainable livelihood.

Support the honey farms
hives per bee house
40–60
for a kilo of honey
€5–6
boxes in the new bee house in Butiru
100

Little land, hardly any water – and a good income

Beekeeping needs little land, hardly any water and no expensive machinery. Honey keeps for a long time and sells well: at local markets a kilo fetches about 20,000 to 25,000 Ugandan shillings, roughly 5 to 6 euros.

Beeswax is in demand too. This creates another source of income that can further improve people's lives here.

Beehives stacked under a shelter.

Good for nature

Nature benefits at the same time. Bees pollinate fruit trees, coffee and vegetable plants, and can so raise the yields of the surrounding fields.

And anyone who keeps bees has their own reason to protect trees and flowering plants.

Busy traffic at the hive entrance.

In the hands of women

Our honey farms are overseen by the microfinance groups, which are run by women. They take on the oversight and make sure the project is run sustainably.

More about the microfinance groups
Beekeepers at work: hives are opened in protective suits and with smoke.
Every hive has a number.

What makes a honey farm

Each of our farms has three parts:

  1. 1

    A bee house

    It holds 40–60 hives.

  2. 2

    A house for processing

    This is where the harvested honey is processed and bottled.

  3. 3

    The equipment

    Everything honey production needs: suits, honey press and extractor, knives, brushes and more.

Report from Butiru · August 2026

A bee house of their own for the women of Butiru

Until now the Butiru zone's hives stood scattered across four plots that did not belong to the project, and there were repeated problems with the landowners and neighbours.

Thanks to donations totalling €8,950, received between 21 April and 7 June 2026, the Butiru women's group was able to buy a plot of about 1,500 m² on 7 May. It cost the equivalent of €4,500 (18,500,000 Ugandan shillings).

Straight afterwards the land was fenced and a sturdy entrance gate put in. The bee house for 100 boxes has a wooden frame, a concrete floor with a low wall, a corrugated iron roof and walls of wire mesh. Inside, the hives now stand on shelves, protected from rain and from thieves. Now the bees are being moved in.

Finished: corrugated iron roof and wire mesh walls.

“The women of Butiru send a big thank you to all donors!”

Mama Kotilida and Elisabeth, Butiru, 25 August 2026

From buying the land to the finished bee house

  • May 2026: the land is bought, the fence goes up.
  • The sturdy entrance gate with its warning sign.
  • The bee house's frame is made of wood.
  • Many hands help with the building.
  • Inside, the hives stand on shelves, safe from rain and thieves.

What your donation does

Your donation helps us supply the farms with the consumables they need: beekeeping suits, gloves, rubber boots and more. With these funds we also organise training that helps the beekeepers learn more about bees and honey production.

Fund a whole farm?

If you would like to fund the setting up of a complete farm, please get in touch with us.

Get in touch

Every gift counts!

Any amount

Payment reference

Honigfarm

Please add it to your bank transfer so your donation reaches the honey farms.

Donate onlineBy bank transfer