DIANE Leitch-Hinds, a resident of Sandvoort Village, West Canje, Berbice, Region Six, is a shining example of how passion, dedication, and family collaboration can transform a home-based enterprise into a thriving livelihood.
As a mother of five, Leitch-Hinds used her free time as a housewife to establish Diane’s Business Enterprise—a family-run honey and beeswax operation hosted from her backyard.

Leitch-Hinds explained that the business is a collective effort: she, her husband, and children care for the hives, catch bees, extract honey from the comb, and bottle the product. Beyond honey, she takes pride in producing high-quality local beauty care products, including soaps infused with honey, neem, turmeric, lemon, and carrot, as well as neem oil for hair and skincare. Raw beeswax is also stockpiled and used for various items such as candles, lip balm, hair vaseline, and shoe polish.

Leitch-Hinds began her honey production in 2023, motivated by a desire to maximise the use of honey by-products, even on a small scale. She has participated in marketing events such as GuyExpo 2024, collaborating with fellow villagers to showcase honey, oils, soaps, lip balms, and other items under a shared booth. These experiences enabled her to build connections and expand her market visibility.

Currently, Leitch-Hinds manages five of her seven backyard hives, housing Africanised bees among mangroves, wildflowers, and vines situated deep in the backlands, away from public interference. During the first honey flow of the year, she harvested honey with a distinct black sage flavour, reflecting the bees’ foraging on abundant local black sage plants during the dry season.

Leitch-Hinds is preparing for her first participation in Honey Fest 2025, hosted by the Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) in partnership with the Guyana Food Safety Authority on 31 October at the GLDA, Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
“I feel both excited and nervous, but I believe I will manage, especially with the support of other beekeepers and fellow villagers,” she said.

She appreciates that Honey Fest, now in its second year, is a valuable platform for networking, sharing ideas, and learning about the development of the apiculture industry. She looks forward to marketing opportunities at the event and anticipates promoting her products at the Christmas niche market, recognising their appeal as excellent gift items.

The GLDA has supported Leitch-Hinds by providing three bee boxes last year, enabling her to gain practical experience in bee rearing. To ease labour-intensive tasks, she invested in a honey extractor, which she uses extensively to efficiently process honey from the comb. As a self-taught beekeeper, she learned through research, guidance from fellow villagers, and government training programmes. Today, she also serves as a mentor to teenage beekeepers in her community.

Beyond apiculture, Leitch-Hinds is a successful cash-crop farmer, cultivating cabbage, celery, peppers, tomatoes, and boulanger, which she sells to wholesale buyers. She emphasises that financial independence has strengthened her confidence as a woman entrepreneur and a member of Guyana’s apiculture sub-sector. She is confident that the apiculture industry is on a positive growth trajectory and is increasingly viewed as a viable primary livelihood, rather than merely a supplemental income source.

As an apiculturalist, Leitch-Hinds supports the implementation of standards and good agricultural practices, including a traceability system to ensure that honey supplied to the market is safe and of high quality, giving consumers confidence in their purchases. Looking ahead, she aims to improve her product packaging and labelling to meet international standards and aggressively pursue new markets–  both locally and internationally.

Leitch-Hinds reflected on the personal fulfilment her work provides, describing the “adrenaline rush” of handling her bees, often assisted by her children.
“Doing what I love, caring for my bees, and producing products that benefit my family and community is incredibly rewarding,” she said.

Looking forward, she hopes to expand her beekeeping operations to a larger scale, while continuing to innovate and contribute to the growth and professionalisation of Guyana’s apiculture industry.