First of 3 parts
Each morning, 22-year-old Züleyha Ceylan drives her small blue truck down the winding village roads, past fields of hazelnut trees, to a patch of colorful beehives in the province of Düzce, some 200 kilometers northwest of Ankara, Türkiye.
She slips into her canary-yellow beekeeping suit, pulls on pink gloves and strikes a match. A curl of smoke drifts from her tin smoker, calming the bees before she lifts the lid of the first hive. Inside, the colony hums with life. She studies the frames for honey levels, checks for the queen’s presence and scans for any sign of disease —tasks that require patience, skill and careful observation. Some inspections take just a few minutes; others stretch into half an hour or more—every hive has a life of its own.
“Since I was a child, I loved being outdoors with animals and nature,” she says, pausing to listen to the buzzing. “I couldn’t imagine myself stuck in an office job in the city. When I hear the sound of the bees, it feels like therapy. Their buzzing calms me and gives me energy for the day.”
When Züleyha began beekeeping last year, some people in her community doubted her choice. “They told me it is a man’s job,” she recalls with a grin. “It was like saying a woman cannot drive a car. Now those same people come to me for advice about their bees.”
Although no one in her family had ever been involved in beekeeping, they always believed in Züleyha’s choice. Even while allergic to bees, her father still helped her to buy her first colonies and equipment. “My parents told me, ‘Do what you love,’ and supported me all the way,” she says. “That gave me the courage to move forward.”
A way forward
Though the province of Düzce is rich in farmland and forests, more than 32 percent of youth between the age of 15 and 24 are unemployed. Many opt to move to the city in search of work, leaving behind old farms and empty villages.
Beekeeping offers an alternative path: it requires little land and relatively modest investment while offering flexible hours. Furthermore, demand for honey and related products remains strong. In Düzce, the prized local Yığılca bee, known for its resilience and ability to produce high-quality honey, makes the sector’s outlook even brighter.
For Züleyha, who chose to stay in her village, bees have meant both livelihood and independence.
(To be continued) FAO News
