For 16 years, Pauline Otila worked in an apiculture company before deciding to quit to taste the roots of entrepreneurship.

Having saved enough, she quit employment in 2018 to start her own company. Pauline keeps bees and manufactures hives and other bee equipment. She also sells processed honey in her company under the name Apiculture Ventures.

“I had gained enough experience from employment, having risen from administrative secretary to become the operations manager, and felt that it was time to be my own boss and create jobs for other people.”

she said.

Her journey to establishing a bee-equipment company was inspired by a trip to Israel. In Israel, she discovered four of the six beehive companies they visited were run by women.

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Pauline felt so challenged and decided to become a replica of the Israel women. Her initial capital was Sh4 million, which she raised from her savings and the benefits she was paid by her employer.

She used the money to hire a godown where her products are manufactured. She also bought raw materials like wood for making hives and imported the first batch of machinery.

‘’The first two years were not easy; I could barely pay myself the same salary I was earning during employment,”

she recalls.

The difficulties in the venture did not dampen her spirit. She persevered, and with time she started making profits which helped her to expand the business into other regions.

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Pauline owns 930 hives spread on farms in Isinya, Namanga, Juja, Chaka, Embu, and Bondo. She makes over 200 bee hives a week and sells each hive at sh 4,500.

“I lease idle land, especially from people living in the diaspora, sets up beehives, and then we share income from the hives,”

added Pauline.

Besides beehives, she sells honey and beauty products, including body cream, lotion, and lip balm. She sells a kilo of pure honey at Sh1,000 while jelly goes for Sh2,000 per kilo, lip balm at Sh150 a piece, and chocolate for Sh65 per 20 grams.

At her enterprise in Industrial Area, Pauline also offers training on beekeeping at Sh2,000 per day and has about 20-30 trainees monthly. For on-farm training, she charges Sh7,000 daily.

Pauline has also partnered with Bidco Kenya to offer pollination services to farmers it has contracted. She takes the bees on farms at a daily cost of Sh100 per hive.

Apiculture Ventures has so far employed about 17 employees.