"My Father Died after Licking Fake": Smart Nigerian Lady Begins Extraction of Original Honey for Sale

A passionate Nigerian beekeeper, Fauzziyah Ebunoluwa, has thrown more light on her business and how she delved into it

Speaking to Legit.ng's Shalom Ankrah in an exclusive interview, Fauzziyah revealed that she always loved nature since she was a kid.

How I became passionate about farming

According to Fauzziyah, she first learnt the basics of farming from her late father who owned a farm.

Before his demise, he used to take her along with him to farm on weekends, and from there, she developed a passion for farming.

She said:

"I loved nature since I was a kid. My dad had a farm he used to take me along to on weekends. He did it as a hobby. He taught me how to plant.

"Going forward, I grew a great passion for farming. I did crop and poultry farming for a while. I enjoyed crop farming because I planted cucumber and it yields quickly. I stopped when I found out that it needs a good irrigation to thrive which I couldn't afford at that time."

My journey into honey business

Fauzziyah said she began to harvest honey herself after her late father sadly died of taking fake honey.

According to her, her late dad was hypertensive, diabetic and loved sugar. He always had honey at home and they had no idea that it was fake.

After her father died, she underwent a course on apiculture and did a lot of reading to learn about bees and how to harvest honey. Sadly, her father died before the first harvest.

Fauzziyah narrated:

"Before my dad died in 2021, he was hypertensive and Diabetic. He loved sugar and honey. He always had honey at home. We didn't know they were all fake. People mix different things to sell in the name of honey and he kept buying them.

"I started to learn about bees and honey out of habit. One day I thought I needed a kind of farming I can do that won't be cost-effective, something I don't have to feed like the chickens that take my money from January to December.

"So I took an apiculture course and did a lot of reading online. I rented a space and put bee hives there. One day, the bees came and started making honey.

"Unfortunately the fake honey killed my dad faster than his diabetes. He died a month before my first harvest.

Life as a beekeeper

Fauzziyah started the business in late 2020 and currently, she has been able to gather a lot of customers who believe in the authenticity of the honey she sells.

Fauzziyah however revealed that the beginning wasn't so rosy for her as her earlier products weren't so perfect.

In her words:

"I started beekeeping in late 2020 and harvested my first honey in late 2021. The honey wasn't much but it felt good.

"This is still more of a hobby for now though it is starting to demand more of my time. I enjoy doing it. I don't get scared of the bees because I love beekeeping.

Challenges of a beekeeper

Fauzziyah lamented bitterly over the fact that most people already have a false perception of honey, and this makes them doubt that hers could be original.

"The challenge I am facing as a beekeeper in Nigeria is proving authenticity", Fauzziyah said.

She continued:

"Many Nigerians already have a perception about how honey should be and it's hard to change that, though most of my customers are now knowledgeable about honey.

"Honey can be any texture or colour but many people think it must be brown and thick always because that is what they find in the market."

Checkout one of her posts below:

Lady cries out after visiting beehive to extract honey

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a lady with the handle @fauzziyah on TikTok has shared a video after visiting a beehive to extract honey for sale.

In the video, the lady revealed the stress she goes through just to extract honey from a beehive. According to her, she usually gets stung by the bees but still stays at the place because she's hell-bent on getting what she wanted (honey).

In her words: "When you are getting stung but you've not taken the honey. There are up to 50,000 bees in a single beehive so it's hard to escape getting stung no matter what you wear."

Source: Legit.ng