Meet Nabil the bee whisperer
Manama : While many would wince at the thought of being covered by bees, the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain is an exception to it.
34-year-old Nabil Alkawry is one of the few people in the Kingdom to run an apiary and the only man who can comfortably cover himself with honeybees.
Producer of over 15 litres of pure, raw and natural local honey a year, Nabil is an employee of the security forces by day and a bee whisperer by early evenings, nurturing his little hives in a friend’s farmhouse in Tubli.
“If I do not come and see them, I have trouble sleeping,” says the dedicated beekeeper. Explaining why he does not get stung, he says: “They know me now. My brother and I loved honey and started beekeeping together. Although a few years later my brother passed away in an accident, I continued to look after the bees in his memory. So, they are like my children.”
Having spent countless hours learning secrets of bee farming with his late brother, his interest in saving the honeybee has now become a passion. Not only does he have several beehives in Tubli, he is also on call for the community – for emergency beehive removals.
If he is successful in removing the bees, he brings them back to his friend’s farm and lets them settle down for a while, before moving them into the apiary where they get down to the work of producing honey.
Apart from producing organic honey, Nabil is also proficient in providing “apitherapy” or “bee sting therapy” which is meant to create a healing response through the pituitary and adrenal glands by spurring the development of endorphins – the body’s natural painkiller.
“Many people are scared of being stung by bees but some come here just to get stung so they can cure themselves. Bee venom has healing properties and benefits patients with arthritis, eczema, tendinitis and many more physical ailments,” Nabil says.
The father of three, Nabil has been farming bee for more than 10 years and intends to make it bigger if he receives the right kind of support.
“Little bees have a great hand in food reaching our tables. It is important that we make an effort to expand such ventures as these tiny workers of nature are on the verge of becoming extinct. I am trying to do my best but I often struggle with funds,” says Nabil.
You can follow Nabil as he decodes the secret life of bees on his Instagram handle: alkawary222.
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