In Meșeni village, the Pantaz family resurrected a beekeeping business from the ashes

After years of working in the UK, the family decided to return home and invest in beekeeping. Even though Doina is a journalist by profession, she inherited her love for this occupation from her father and, with his help, managed to turn her passion for bees into a thriving business in their native village, Meșeni.

Three years ago, however, the Pantaz family was struck by misfortune: unfavorable climatic conditions led to the near-total loss of their bee colonies. Doina did not give up. With support from Sweden and UNDP through the "Sustainable and resilient communities through women empowerment” project, she started over. The assistance they received included purchasing queen bees and necessary equipment, as well as business mentoring, which was essential for recovery. 

After the apiary began to recover, some hives were stolen from the edge of the forest. To this day, the hives and the perpetrators have not been found. "Every cloud has a silver lining," said Mihai, who came up with an idea that could help them and other beekeepers.

With his experience in woodworking, Mihai decided to produce customized hives and hive accessories, as well as modular beekeeping furniture, integrating the ControlBee GPS system—a hive alarm and monitoring system. He saw in Europe that this system was popular and effective in preventing theft, and it was not yet known in Moldova.

He was confident that the idea would take off, but to put it into practice, Mihai needed financial resources and entrepreneurial skills. Encouraged by Doina, he entered his business idea in the project competition announced by the UNDP "Advanced Cross-river Capacities for Trade" (AdTrade) Project.

Within the AdTrade project, with financial support from Sweden, the UK, and UNDP, Mihai set up a workshop and purchased the necessary woodworking equipment. Thanks to mentoring, his business began to thrive, providing a stable income. Mihai is increasingly sought after by residents of neighboring villages for various orders. 

"The training and workshops we attended helped us organize our economic activity differently and adapt all processes to be as environmentally friendly and economically efficient as possible," says Doina.

Today, the Pantaz family’s apiary numbers over 100 bee colonies, and their business is more resilient to climate change, significantly contributing to the development of the local economy.