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Keeping busy with the bees
Anita Khushwaha, the girl from a Muzaffarpur village who once grazed goats for a living, is the first woman bee keeper in Bihar.
The bees Anita Khushwaha keeps have brought her honey-sweet success.
The poor girl from a Muzaffarpur village who grazed goats for a living, one day sneaked into a school and spent a day there unnoticed. That was her first day in class. Seventeen years old now, she is close to finishing her graduation.
“My parents were not supportive but they listened to me eventually,” she said.
There was also the problem of paying her fees. So, Anita started teaching children. But after finishing school, she wanted to go to college for which more money was required.
Anita then decided to give bee keeping a try. Her village had always kept bees and made honey, but Anita became the first woman bee keeper in Bihar.
She had saved enough from teaching children to buy two queen bees. Today, Anita has over 125 boxes of the buzzing insects. She makes her own honey, goes to college on her bicycle and secretly admits she also knows to ride a bike.
“I like bee keeping. I can run a business, earn money and study at the same time,” she said. Busier than her queen bees, one would say.
