In July 2015 we initiated the first Makhad Trust sponsored Beekeeping Training Programme in St Katherine’s, with help from The Eva Crane Trust. This year-long training enabled 5 Bedouin to become trained beekeepers with 10 hives of bees each. Their teacher was Mousa who has been keeping bees since he was a small boy and now has over 30 hives. The novice beekeepers have been very enthusiastic and now enjoy their new careers as beekeepers.

In September 2016, a new cadre of trainees started their training, this time with Salem who has hives in the mountains and has chosen men with mountain gardens so that there are more pollinating insects for the gardens. There were six new trainees and they all completed their training successfully.

From 2017 to 2018, thanks to extra funding we were able to train 10 new beekeepers, and then in 2018 to 2019 we trained another 6 men.  In total 27 men have benefited with bees and a full training course.  Selem still keeps a check on his ex-students and is always available if there are problems. Honey from St Katherines is highly prized and can sell for 300LE a kilo (near £30) and often it is bought before it has been made! It is certainly delicious. Please visit our Beekeeping Gallery.

We are very grateful to the Eva Crane Trust for helping to fund two years of our Beekeeping Training course and then part of the next two years together with Didymus CIO will also help fund the next course.  We would like to express huge gratitude to the Eva Crane Trust for having faith in our project and the repeat funding and also to Didymus CIO for their very generous contribution to this project.