With the help of bees and a teacher, women change reality in the interior of Pernambuco

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After being told that beekeeping was not “a woman’s thing”, a group of female farmers from the Zona da Mata, in Pernambuco, who previously earned around R$40 a day selling cassava, faced prejudice and, with the support of a university professor, managed to change the reality of social vulnerability with the production of honey.

The transformation took place after the workers met Renata Valéria de Sousa, 39, a professor at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, specialist in genetic improvement, bee behavior and beekeeping.

Earlier, the professor had developed a doctoral project called “Beekeeping and Women: A Sweet Production” with the support of producers from the Association of Cabo de Santo Agostinho, who had an apiary in São Lourenço da Mata, Ponte dos Carvalhos and Jaboatão dos Guararapes.

The objective was to help beekeepers in these places to avoid the loss of bees in the period of scarcity of flowers, which left up to 80% of the hives empty. The intention was also to increase the production of the queen bees, which command the entire process that results in cleaner and purer honey, without chemical residues.

Some workers from these areas were transferred to a settlement in Barreiros (PE), where this activity did not yet exist, because the land where they lived for more than 30 years was used for environmental compensation due to the installation of the Suape Port Complex.

Renata already had the desire to work with low-income women to build a sustainable apiary that would bring additional income to their families.

“We had little money, we took money out of our pockets to help with this action that changed the quality of life for so many people”, says the teacher. According to her, some families in the region live in extreme poverty (52.1% of the municipality’s population had an income of up to half the minimum wage according to the 2010 Census).

The teacher also states that there was an orientation for the preservation of native vegetation because, according to her, this guarantees a differentiated honey. For her work, she was one of the winners of the fifth edition of the Espírito Público award, announced at the end of November.

The then aspiring beekeeper Maria Iraneide Macedo, 47, tells Neide that before meeting Renata she already had a passion for bees. But when she went to talk to some of the transferred beekeepers, she was told that it was “man’s work”.

Neide’s own husband resisted the new job when she decided to join the “doctor Renata” project. “He thought it was a very heavy job. But I insisted. Today he no longer lives without the bees. He made the boxes for the hives with recycled wood and helps me with the honey harvest in the summer, despite still working with sugarcane. -sugar. Bees have changed our lives.”

Neide claims that his honey also contributes to the quality of his family’s food and life, in addition to making the environment more diverse. With the extra income from honey, she was able to buy things she didn’t have access to before.

“I renovated my house and my husband bought a stroller. But the best thing was taking my three grandchildren to the mall for the first time, because here at the Engenho we don’t have those things. I bought clothes and shoes for them, and they also loved the playground there. . Their joy is priceless. All with the honey money”, says Neide.

Bees also changed the life of farmer Sônia Maria da Silva, 61, who wanted to add a new profession to her CV. Despite being allergic to the sting of these animals, she didn’t think twice to participate in the project with teacher Renata’s beekeeping classes.

Sônia says that she used to take 20 kilos of cassava (also called cassava, in São Paulo) to fairs to make a maximum profit of R$ 40 that day. Now, she sells each liter of honey from her apiary for R$80.

“It was a transformation, it’s a different way of life. Especially for black women who don’t have a good education. Before, I didn’t earn practically anything with cassava, I just carried a lot of weight. Honey can be stored if it’s not sold immediately and marketed later. , there are no losses”, says Sonia.

The beekeeper highlights yet another advantage. For her, when the teacher travels to give lectures about the project and mentions their names, it is like an acclamation and makes the world aware of the initiative they developed in the interior of Pernambuco.

“We’re here in the bush, but our name is making the rounds around the world in places like Canada, Cuba and São Paulo through teacher Renata. It’s a recognition of our work and love, because if you don’t do things with love, there won’t be anything.”

Sonia claims that beekeeping is a profession that values ​​women and makes them recognized, because women do “everything right”, while men think that only they know things. “We shine, but the drone has to be there to carry the weight,” she jokes.

She also shares what she did with the extra honey money. “We won the house in the settlement and I managed to buy all the furniture. I buy my livelihood and I have my little money for my things and for the apiary, of course.”

“Thank God they [Neide e Sônia] appropriated the idea that they are micro-entrepreneurs and still work with sustainability. Our project brought about changes in environmental and social perception. In Pernambuco, family farming predominates. We played this role looking at the one who was invisible and forgotten”, says the teacher.

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