Family keeps beekeeping business buzzing at Happy Hives

**Heather Erdmann **

A Khomasdal family is turning beekeeping into a business through honey production, bee removals and value-added products made from materials harvested from their hives.

Heinrich Schimming, also affectionately known as HeiniBee,

has been actively involved in beekeeping for about a decade and operates Happy Hives with members of his family. The business produces honey, bee pollen, bee bread, propolis and beeswax, with the beeswax also used to make candles and products such as lip balm and floor polish. The family currently sells its products mainly through WhatsApp and word of mouth and provides bee-removal services for people who find colonies in houses, walls, ceilings, trees, tyres, and other structures.

Schimming said the business developed after he became interested in keeping bees that regularly visited a water point at Farm Schimmings Rust. He approached the forestry office while applying for a wood permit and received an unused hive box, which he placed near the water source. The hive remained empty for about five years.

His involvement became more serious after he attended a beekeeping course through the Directorate of Forestry under the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, under the training of Theodore Kaambu.

“We had the box, we had the training, and then we asked ourselves: where are the bees?” Schimming recalled.

Soon afterwards, he received a call about a swarm of bees that needed to be removed. Schimming said the training helped him move from unemployment into self-employment, but practical experience was needed to develop his skills. That is where experienced beekeeper Roland zu Bentheim became important.

Schimming met Zu Bentheim during his forestry training and later asked him to take him along on bee-removal jobs.

“Your training and your actual removal are two different worlds,” Schimming said. “You can have the know-how, but if you don’t have the hands-on experience, then it will not work.” Zu Bentheim, who has been involved in beekeeping since 1998, said his interest in the sector was influenced by his father. He has managed as many as 100 hives in the past and currently has about 20 to 24.

He said weather conditions and drought can affect colonies, while swarming is a natural process through which colonies divide.

Zu Bentheim said more people need to understand bees and learn how to handle them safely instead of destroying colonies when they become a nuisance.

“People must learn to save the bees, not kill them,” he said.

He encourages aspiring beekeepers to undergo formal training and gain practical experience under a mentor before working independently.

Zu Bentheim also produces honey, honeycombs, beeswax and propolis and believes beekeeping has an important role to play in agriculture because of bees’ contribution to pollination.

For Schimming, the practical knowledge he gained through Zu Bentheim’s mentorship complemented the formal training he received through the Directorate of Forestry. The business has since become a family operation. Schimming’s wife, Carlina, and daughter, Aurora, assist with different aspects, including honey extraction and candle making, while the men are mainly involved in bee removals. His 19-year-old son, Carlos Schimming, completed school last year and is spending his gap year assisting with the business. He plans to pursue electrical training and a six-month course in diamond cutting and polishing.

Carlos said working with bees has taught him patience.

“I find beekeeping very interesting. It needs a lot of patience. If you don’t have patience, anything can go wrong,” he said.

He also said working with his family has allowed them to spend more time together.

“It’s nice. We spend more time together,” Carlos said.

Carlos said the bees have also taught him the value of teamwork.

“They are hardworking, and they work as a group,” he said.

Schimming said beekeeping is not only about producing honey, but also about protecting an important agricultural resource.

He identified pesticides as a major threat to bees and urged farmers and communities to protect pollinators.

“We need bees for pollination services. We need bees for the honey. We need to protect them,” he said.

–herdmann@nepc.com.na

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