Healing honey turns into social solidarity on Kent Market shelves

Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki took part in the honey harvest held at the municipality’s apiary in Kayadibi. The carefully extracted and jarred honey was placed on the shelves of Bornova Municipality’s Kent Market branches to be distributed free of charge to residents in need rather than being sold.

Bornova Municipality has crowned its vision of supporting agricultural production and social municipalism with a meaningful solidarity project. Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki attended the first honey harvest of the year at the apiary operated by Bornova Municipality’s Agricultural Services Directorate in Kayadibi. With strong participation from rural neighborhood headmen, the event saw the joyful harvesting of natural honey produced from more than 30 beehives belonging to the municipality.

Mayor Eşki took part in the honey harvest

After personally extracting and jarring the harvested honey and placing it on Kent Market shelves, Mayor Ömer Eşki emphasized the importance of production and social justice in Bornova. Mayor Eşki said:

“In Bornova, those who need it most have access to the highest-quality products, the freshest foods, the produce we harvest from our community gardens, the honey we produce, and the healthiest products on the market. Because our fundamental goal is production and social justice. Bringing both production and social justice together with our residents in Bornova is our most fundamental purpose and goal. Life in Bornova is beautiful—sweet as honey.”

1,000 new beekeepers in 10 years: Full support from training to production

Bornova Municipality is not only producing honey in its own apiary; it is also continuing to bring new producers into the sector in order to promote beekeeping culture. With the 10th Beekeeping Course successfully completed in 2026, approximately 1,000 residents have received beekeeping training to date. A large number of these participants have gone on to actively practice beekeeping across the district.

As part of the latest course, 80 trainees successfully completed a demanding 56-hour program consisting of 40 hours of theoretical and 16 hours of practical training. To help them take strong first steps into beekeeping, they were provided with beehives and all essential equipment free of charge.

“Beehive and equipment” support gives producers a boost

The support package provided to producers who completed their training includes:

• Langstroth-type double-story beehive with a pollen trap
• Propolis trap and queen excluder
• Beekeeper trousers, veil and gloves
• Smoker, hive tool, foundation sheets, bee brush and feeder

Bornova Municipality’s technical staff and expert instructors continue to provide year-round on-site technical support to all beekeepers who have completed the course and begun production.