THE Victoria Honey House located at Victoria Public Road, East Coast Demerara, has been thriving with the likes of Carlotta De Jesus among others, who has been very instrumental in honey production.

She has been producing honey on a small scale since 2012, but her business has grown over time and she presently supplies several entities and has her own bee farm.
De Jesus told this publication at the Victoria Honey House, that she bottles honey which is sold mostly to tourists and even local people.
She wholesales and retails honey at different prices depending on the size of the bottle, but the smallest size is sold for $200, while the gallon bottle costs $12,000.
“I source my honey from the 35 hives that I have on my bee farm, some from the hives at the Mangrove Reservation at Victoria and some from the “backdam” also in Victoria, De Jesus said.”
The mother of four is also an active member of the Victoria Mangrove Reserve where she conducts horse-drawn cart tours for tourists.
De Jesus said she was a full-time seamstress, but as her honey production business grew, she does that (sews) part time, especially around the time when children need school clothes to go back to school.
She told this publication that she prefers to focus more on her honey production business because she likes what she does and it is very fulfilling.
De Jesus recently completed a tour guide training programme with a group of 15 persons and they have since extended their tours to Hope Beach and Greenfield, East Coast Demerara.
She was the first person to start producing honey for the Victoria Mangrove Reserve Producers and has since established her own business with her own brand.

(Michel Outridge)