Food producer network 2020 grantee

Apiario Naymar, Inc.

José Rijos’ home and apiary is a literal paradise for bees. In addition to the wild hives that are rescued around the community and brought there, swarms of wild bees from the island municipality of Vieques also flock to the apiary’s many wooden hives that José, a knowledgeable welder and woodworker, builds himself. Although he will soon retire from the local power authority, his passion is beekeeping, which led him to establish Apiario Neymar in 2015 and to join the Federation of Puertorican Beekeepers. Since then, he has set up more than 30 hives on six agroecological farms in Vieques. These hives not only provide pollination services for the farms, but also produce the highly sought-after golden honey that José sells locally---regularly with a waitlist!

Scaling up from homemade to the professional equipment he’ll be able to acquire will enable him to double the number of established hives as well as the amount of honey in production, thereby creating three new part-time jobs at the apiary. With the new equipment, José will also be able to offer hive-building workshops for the community to foster a new generation of beekeepers in Vieques. Through increasing his own honey production and encouraging new beekeepers, José will ensure that the island of Vieques will not have to wait for honey in the very near future.