Baringo ‘beauty queen’ cheered on by honey bees

Diana Chebotibin holds a bottle of packaged honey that she produces in Marigat in Baringo county. [PHOTO: WILBERFORCE OKWIRI/STANDARD]

The first time we meet Diana Chebotibin, a successful bee farmer, is at a county expo at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

Weeks later, we are at her home village in Bogoria, a little past 8pm. Bees hover around her in a frenzied buzz. She neither fidgets nor swats at the stingers.

Under the cover of darkness, she fears not for she knows too well the rewards are sweet. The bees – dociled by puffs of smoke – tapper on the edges of a hive frame. The spinning of the combs in a metallic encasement lets off a golden liquid that mollifies the taste buds.

“The honey we produce is natural. No chemical is added,” the youthful apiculturist tells the Smart Harvest.
Bogoria, where Chebotibin comes from, is spectacularly arid save for the acacia. This is good news for honey farmers like her for the tree is said to produce some of the best honey.

Driving through the landscape, hardly a kilometre lapses before we come across some type of an apiary. The scorching sun barely allows food crops to thrive. The land is idle and banal – except for the loud presence of hives all over.

“The area may not be good for planting crops but it has provided us with an alternative that is as good as crop farming,” she says.

Initially though, Chebotibin tried her hand in water melons. In 2010, together with her husband, they transported water melons from farms in Baringo – under Perkerra Irrigation Scheme – to Nairobi.

They would ditch the fruits for honey; a systematic change that was driven by friends who kept asking for honey every time they went to pick the melons.

“Everyone would ask for honey,” she says, “not bearing in mind that what we traded in was water melon – not honey.

With time, the demand for the honey grew because those who consumed appreciated its authentic taste,” says the farmer who holds a degree in Hospitality and tourism management from Kenyatta University.

That was their turrning point. Together with her husband, Justine Chebii, they named their brand ‘Bogoria special honey’.

Chebotibin has four honey collection points (where hives are erected) and harvests after every flowering season which lasts between three and five months.

A matured top bar hive measuring 3 ft produces between ten and 15kg of honey. In 2009, this young farmer was among the Miss Kenya finalists.

Chebotibin, a mother of two, does not regret her decision to go into honey farming. Swift and passionate, she approached relevant bodies and managed to register her brand in 2012.

Bogoria special honey, bottled and prepared at the proverbial source, is sought after by customers far and wide. A kilo of Chebotibin’s honey, from outlets in Nairobi, goes for Sh600.

Through their website, the couple also receives several orders.

It is, however, not what makes her feel proud. At 27, she has achieved a lot. She, however, feels more is yet to come.

“My aim is to get Bogoria special honey beyond our borders,” she says.