Dominica Beekeeping March 2022
Our story in Dominica began in March of 2022, high above the sea, at the Champs Hotel, owned by Rotarians Lise and Hans. From their hillside perch, the view swept across the bay, so breathtaking that one morning a rainbow arched perfectly over the water, as if offering a promise. It was hard to imagine that the very land below us had been utterly transformed just a few years earlier.
In 2016, Hurricane Maria tore through Dominica with devastating force. Forests were stripped bare, farms flattened, and among the quietest losses was one of the most critical: the island’s bees. Hives were destroyed, beekeepers lost generations of colonies, and with them the pollinators essential to Dominica’s lush biodiversity and food security.
Out of that destruction came partnership and determination. The Rotary Club of Dominica joined forces with the Rotary Club of Bracebridge, partnered with the Rotary Club of Kingston, to help rebuild what had been lost. Together, and working in collaboration with ISRAAID and the Rotary Club of Portsmouth, they launched BEE-autiful: The Nature Isle Beekeeping Project.
The project focused on more than just replacing hives—it was about restoring an ecosystem and strengthening a community. Around twenty local farmers came together to be trained in sustainable apiculture. We began with the basics: building hives, assembling frames, and learning the theory behind healthy colonies, queen rearing, and climate-resilient beekeeping. Hands-on days followed, visiting apiaries, carefully opening hives, understanding the remarkable social structure of bees, and learning how honey is harvested with respect for the colony.
Bees, after all, are far more than honey producers. They are essential pollinators, ensuring that plant life continues, crops flourish, and forests regenerate. Rebuilding the bee population meant enhancing environmental sustainability across the island, helping nature heal itself.
Three years later, the results speak for themselves. Bees are once again thriving across Dominica. The trained farmers have formed a cooperative, sharing knowledge, supporting one another, and selling their honey and bee products locally. What began as recovery has become resilience.
Standing above the bay, remembering that rainbow after the storm, it feels like the perfect symbol: a reminder that with collaboration, care, and a little patience, much like beekeeping itself, something truly sweet can emerge from even the hardest of times.
Not only did we help the bees—we also played tourist, and Dominica rewarded us generously.
There was fellowship everywhere: shared meals, laughter, cheer, and the easy bonding that happens when people work side by side with a common purpose. We tasted local flavours, including a memorable seaweed drink, and wandered about like proper tourists, still wearing masks in some venues—a reminder that recovery from Covid, like beekeeping, takes patience.
We set out to visit Peter’s Barbeque and its neighbouring nightclub, only to find them closed, Dominican timing at work. Getting there, however, was unforgettable: a cow had run into our taxi van, smashing the glass so you couldn’t see out of half of the front window. Replacement glass, we learned, is not easy to come by on an island. No one panicked. Shrugs, humour, and calm prevailed—another lesson in resilience.
Nature was everywhere and overwhelming. We marveled at red rock formations, spectacular views, and plants that seemed to grow with abandon.
One afternoon we floated down the river from Emerald Pool, tubing lazily downstream with a beer in hand, grinning like kids.
At a local farm, we watched a cat casually socialize with a rooster, and later, efficiently catch and eat a lizard.
We saw hurricane devastation everywhere: broken buildings, altered landscapes—but also extraordinarily resilient people, rebuilding with determination and pride.
Our stay at Rosalie Bay Eco Resort included a visit to the turtle sanctuary, where conservation and care are woven quietly into daily life. We also visited Free UP Farm, an environmental haven bursting with gorgeous plant life and sustainable practices.
One especially meaningful day was spent painting a container library at Savanne Paille Primary School. The setting alone was stunning, but the message painted on the wall said it all:
“Your attitude determines your altitude.”
Flowers, maps, and classroom themes bloomed across the walls, colour, hope, and learning rolled into one.
Evenings brought friendship dinners, laughter, and a surprisingly competitive bingo night.
There was lunch at the Purple Turtle, toes in the sand, and a visit to Cabrits National Park, where history, sea, and jungle meet.
One special highlight was meeting Lori Hawkins, a professional underwater photographer whose images captured Dominica’s marine world in breathtaking ways. She generously shared one of her photographs with me, on the condition that I not post it on social media. A gift of trust, and one I treasure.
Looking back, the beekeeping project was the heart of our visit—but the people, places, mishaps, meals, and moments were the soul. Bees were rebuilt, yes—but so were friendships, confidence, and hope. In Dominica, recovery hums softly, like a healthy hive, alive with purpose.
