Beekeeper brews up added-value goods in Guatemala

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Beekeeper and graduate student at the University of Florida's Beekeeping program, Michael Drankwalter, recently traveled to Guatemala to offer his knowledge on beehive management, and the production and marketing of value-added honey products. Michael's workroom for the majority of his volunteer trip was at the FECCEG headquarters.  The Federacion Comericializadora de Café Especial de Guatemala (FECCEG) is an organization that is formed by 13 small coffee cooperatives and spreads across six Guatemalan departments. FECCG is a member of the successful Kishé Foods LLC. Kishé coffee sells roasted coffee from Guatemala directly to consumers and coffee retailers in the United States. The company's operations and processing are developed in California, but the company management is based in the city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. There are many Kishé coffee shops that are sprouting up around Guatemala (one volunteer called them the Starbucks of Central America). However, what sets Kishé apart is its dedication to local and fair trade ingredients.

 Kishé makes other products with their locally sourced products as well including muffins,cookies, soaps, and, of course, honey products. Michael helped FECCEG create value-added products from honey like flavored honey straws, soaps and skin balm using other ingredients like pollen and propolis. Propolis is known as bee glue for its highly adhesive qualities but also for its healing abilities in soaps and other natural skincare products. 

Michael also helped the team check the moisture content of the sample honey from the beekeepers to see if they were consistent with the data that was sent to the organization. He also had the opportunity to visit an apiary near the Pacific South Coast to inspect a few hives. During this time, he was able to meet a fellow beekeeper named Mario who owns about 150 beehives. There, he led a training of beehive management and maintenance, queen rearing, pest and disease management and honey production. Looking forward, participants of Michael's workshops should now have a better understanding of how to properly maintain and manage their beehives in order to improve the quality of their honey products.



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