AVANT GARDENER

Farmers are known to be set in their ways. Sometimes, the best way to get them to adopt something new is to show them that it can make them good money. 

Purest Heart Honey is the brand of honey sold by Guadaleva Coteng, 30, of Purest Hearts Apiary Enterprise in Itogon, Benguet.

Before she began beekeeping, folks in the area she lived in primarily made a living through mining. Though there were some farmers, they weren’t very productive and their land was prone to disasters such as landslides. Coteng, who was 21 at that time, wanted to help farmers raise the quality of their produce. She figured that she could do this by keeping bees. 

“I really wanted to farm, but I have no land,” she explained. “I told myself that even if I have no land, I know people who are willing to help me.” 
She took beekeeping classes at Saint Louis University in Baguio and started with two colonies in a borrowed 200 sqm plot of land that she uses for beekeeping and mushroom farming. 

She supplemented her initial knowledge by attending free trainings offered by various government offices, from their municipal agriculture office to ones given by the regional Department of Agriculture.

“My target was natural pollination for crops,” Coteng said in Tagalong. “I [expanded to] IEC (information, education, and communication). I share knowledge with farmers on the benefits of natural or organic farming because the bees are here for pollination.”

Her advocacy came in handy during the pandemic, when her neighbors started planting corn. Since these were naturally pollinated by the bees, other farmers slowly began switching to natural farming, relying on the bees for pollination. Of course, that they produce honey is a delicious, nutritious plus. 
“It’s helped me a lot personally because I’ve come a long way in terms of livelihood,” she said, explaining that her husband is a miner and before she started beekeeping, they only had his salary to depend on. “But during the pandemic, beekeeping kept us alive. Selling honey is what supplied us with our daily needs.”

It took five years for Coteng to educate her co-farmers on the benefits of natural farming. When her neighbor started planting corn, they were annoyed with the bees and would complain about the noise of the bees buzzing in the morning. But when it came time to harvest, they saw the positive effect the bees had on their crops. “It took a lot of patience, but at least there are more beekeepers now who can help me educate our community.”

One of her biggest challenges as a beekeeper are farmers who use synthetic pesticides, as these can kill bees. She tells farmers who come to her with this complaint to ask their conventional farming neighbors to tell them when they’re going to spray pesticides so that they can at least keep the bees from leaving their hives. It’s a stopgap solution, but it’s a compromise for now.

Coteng currently has 10 European honeybee hives and 10 stingless beehives. They produce around 500 kilos during honeyflow season, which lasts from December to February. The off-season is spent on colony propagation. A 320g bottle costs ₱320. Customers contact her via the Purest Hearts Apiary and Mushroom Production Facebook Page. 

“I enjoy beekeeping. Bees teach you a lot of things. Apitherapy has been a big help because I don’t need to go to the pharmacy to get antibiotics because bee venom is a natural antibiotic. I’ve also met a lot of people. Even if I haven’t met all my friends personally, I know that as long as there are beekeepers in an area, I won’t get lost.”

Her mushroom venture was born during the pandemic when a beekeeper bought 26 colonies from her. She used the money to start a mushroom farm. “It was another adventure because I don’t know anything about mushroom farming.” She made friends with a local group of mothers who ran a mushroom farm and, like before, attended free trainings offered by the DA and DTI (Department of Trade and Industry). She now grows white oyster mushrooms, which she’s also turned into products. Her mushroom alamang sells for ₱170 a bottle, mushroom chili paste for ₱130, and fresh mushrooms for ₱300 a kilo.

Coteng won the Young Farmers Challenge, provincial level in 2022 for Purest Heart Honey. She is currently president of their chapter of the Pambansang Manalon, Magbabaol, Mag-uuma, Magsasaka ng Pilipinas (P4MP) and is a member of YMC, Young Farmers Challenge, where winners help each other promote their products. 

She hopes that more young people will consider agriculture as a career. “It’s not all about planting,” she said. “We have scientists, doctors, engineers in agriculture.”

She instills her values in her nine-year-old daughter who also has an interest in farming. “I want her to understand that we don’t know what the future of agriculture will be.”