The “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative was established in 2022 to support beekeepers from the Cantemir and Leova districts in processing and marketing bee products. The group began with a beekeeping equipment shop and later expanded its activities by opening a workshop for producing beehives and developing a joint honey packaging and sales line.

Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative, says that the decision to join forces arose from the challenges faced by beekeepers in the region and the difficulty of covering operating costs individually.

We established the cooperative in 2022 after analysing what was happening around us and realising that, because of the crisis in the sector, beekeepers in the Cantemir–Leova region needed support. We signed a franchise agreement and opened a beekeeping equipment shop. This became the starting point and the driving force behind the other processes subsequently developed within the group, said Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

The next challenge identified was how to market the honey produced by the group’s members.

After opening the shop, we established a workshop to produce beehives that meet the needs and expectations of beekeepers. We then realised that we also had to help them sell their honey. As the crisis unfolded, we understood that without a team and without pooling a larger volume of bee products, we would not be able to remain viable or cover our expenses, explained Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

Honey processing proved to be one of the most difficult stages. The group’s members found that preparing a product for sale involved much more than heating, filtering and packaging it.

Initially, we thought processing was simple: you take the honey, heat it, filter it and put it into jars. It is nowhere near that easy. It is a complex process that involves complying with specific timeframes and conditions and requires attention to every detail. This obstacle held back our activities for quite a long time, noted Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

To overcome these difficulties, the cooperative sought support from the Agricultural and Rural Advisory Centre. The group’s needs were assessed together with agricultural advisor Vasile Dolghieru, who became the beekeepers’ mentor.

The advisory activities focused on the cooperative’s internal organisation, product processing, equipment placement and the preparation of honey for sale.

First, we identified the needs of the cooperative’s members. The problems we found are common throughout the country’s beekeeping sector. The price of honey remains a major challenge, but we focused on making use of the group’s capacities and on processing and prioritising the sale of honey collected from the cooperative’s members.

We visited beekeepers in several communities across the region. We wanted the group’s members to see in practice, rather than merely hear explanations, what premises and floor areas are needed for honey processing and how the equipment should be arranged. This allowed them to relate the proposed solutions to the actual conditions on each farm, said agricultural advisor Vasile Dolghieru.

One of the technical challenges was the absence of a professional heated chamber, which the cooperative considered a costly investment. Following discussions with their mentor, the beekeepers tested a uniform underfloor heating solution. This allowed them to decrystallise the honey without exceeding the temperature range established for the process.

A heated chamber is not inexpensive, so we tried to find a more affordable method. Following discussions with Mr Vasile Dolghieru, we installed a heat source that warms the room through the floor. It may not be the most professional solution, but we managed to decrystallise all the honey without exceeding a temperature of 40–45°C.

Honey labelling was always left until later because we had many other tasks and never managed to reach that stage. Thanks to the advisory support, we made progress with product labelling and standardisation, finalised the technological packaging process and outlined how the group should work with a beekeeper who wishes to become a member, said Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

By joining forces, the beekeepers were able to pool larger volumes and ensure continuity of supply. While an individual producer previously sold between half a tonne and one tonne of honey directly from home, the cooperative can market batches of between seven and ten tonnes. The group currently offers ten bee products, including polyfloral, linden and acacia honey, creamed honey and May honey.

Through our collaboration with Mr Vasile, we understood that we need to standardise our activities and ensure the continuity of our processes. We must always have quality honey in stock and be able to meet customer requirements. Previously, we each sold half a tonne or one tonne of honey from home, but as a group we have managed to market batches of seven and even ten tonnes, said Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

According to the manager, increasing domestic consumption and developing standardised products could create new opportunities for marketing the honey collected from the cooperative’s members.

Vasile Dolghieru believes that the direct exchange of experience between farmers helps them find solutions adapted to the conditions of their own farms more quickly.

The transfer of knowledge from farmer to farmer helps strengthen relationships and supports producers’ faster and more consistent development. Farmers have the opportunity to learn from one another’s practical experience, improve their activities, achieve better results and prosper together, said agricultural advisor Vasile Dolghieru.

This project is beneficial, and we hope it will continue to develop so that beekeepers can have permanent access to advisory services. The experience we have gained has helped us become better organised, clarify our internal processes and understand what we need to do to consistently meet market requirements, concluded Gheorghe Moisa, manager of the “HONEY FARM” Entrepreneurial Cooperative.

This material was produced as part of the agricultural advisory activities for producers in the Republic of Moldova, carried out through the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS), supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry and implemented by the Agricultural and Rural Advisory Centre (CCAR) as part of the Economic Growth Plan of the Republic of Moldova for 2025–2027.