About us
At Honeybee Heroes, we seek to create accessible, sustainable opportunities for South Africans to protect and engage with the environment, grounded in the conservation of and education surrounding South Africa’s Capensis honeybee.
Our mission is threefold, to play an active role in reversing the decline of the South African honeybee: through our flagship Adopt-a-Hive programme, we’re creating a direct pipeline for eco-minded individuals to get involved in South Africa’s species conservation efforts, by placing and caring for safe, permanent homes for South African honeybees on farms and private nature reserves countrywide on behalf of our sponsors. Our expert beekeepers manage the hives using strictly ethical beekeeping practices, encouraging organic colony growth for more healthy, happy honeybees.
To uplift low-income households in South Africa by making ethical beekeeping a viable profession: the bigger we grow, the greater opportunity we have to assist local honeybee farmers like ourselves, by providing them with the equipment, training and facilities to ensure they grow sustainably, profitably and with the bees’ best interests at heart. We’re also in the midst of coordinating our first community-run micro-apiaries: honeybee hive smallholdings sponsored by our supporters and managed by low-income South African households to help supplement their annual earnings through ethical honey production and distribution.
To educate South African consumers on eco- and health-minded food choices and advocate for the reevaluation of locally produced foods against cheap imports: currently, South Africa imports over 4 000 tons of foreign honey every year. But imported honey tends to be filtered, heated and with many additives like corn and rice sweeteners—removing all of the amazing antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits natural honey offers. And because the cost of this artificial honey is so low, local honey producers can’t compete, forcing them to artificially alter their honey and participate in unethical beekeeping practices to keep their businesses afloat. If we can break this chain by advocating for smarter food choices at the consumer level, with an emphasis on local, eco-friendly producers, we can make sustainability profitable—ensuring a better future for South African honeybees and honeybee farmers.
