ABHA — When you see apiaries, it might not readily come to your mind that a young woman is hard at work and is at ease in this unique environment, extracting honey amid the buzzing of bees, while moving easily between beehives to harvest the crop. Hanaa Al-Alamai, a young Saudi woman from Rijal Alma in the southern Asir region, is a fair hand at extracting honey and a veritable veteran in handling bees from the time she made her entrance into this field. She entered the field of producing and selling honey since she was 18 years old, and today she boasts of having apiaries in Hejaz and Tihama regions where she keeps them in accordance with the seasons of beekeeping trade. It is also amazing to know that she produces around 27 tons of honey in a year. Speaking about her motivation to enter this profession, Hanaa said: "It all started when I attended forums where I had to interact with cancer patients. When they came to know that I am from Rijal Alma, which is famous for natural honey, they asked me from where could they get natural and original honey for treatment." She added that initially she used to provide them with honey, all kinds such as Sidr, Samar, and Talah. Hanaa said that she expanded the trade gradually. "I got more interested in the trade and started reading scientific research papers concerned with honey treatment, such as Chinese and foreign references, folk medicine and the Prophetic medicine, in order to serve patients and share with them authentic and documented information. "After the journey for acquiring knowledge and experience, I switched to trading honey through social media platforms, and launched a website exclusive for selling honey." About her experience in this thriving trade, Hanaa said: "After seeing the demand for honey, as well as encouragement from the community around me and support from customers, I decided to expand the apiaries. Also, I started to move from one region to another, according to the type of trees on which bees feed," she said. Hanaa now owns apiaries in Hejaz and Tihama. "I transport apiaries from one place to another in accordance with the change of the seasons." Referring to her production of honey Hanaa said: "I produce about 10 tons of Sidr honey, with two harvests in a year, as well as 10 tons of Talah honey. As for Sidr, it has one season and the harvest amounts to seven tons only."
