Until recently, there were few women beekeepers in the Republic of Moldova, but there has been a recent buzz in activity. Gradually managing to ‘tame’ the bees and overcome stereotypes, today roughly 8 per cent of the 7,696 apiaries listed in the National Food Safety Agency’s National Register of Beekeepers are kept by women.

Tamara Schiopu, 56, is an environmentalist and an expert in ecological agriculture from Moldova. She is the President of EcoLocal - Association of Organic and Artisanal Producers and Consumers of Moldova. Tamara has always been immersed in nature. Her husband has been an organic farmer for over 40 years. Tamara learned about the benefits of this type of agriculture from him and has adopted an environment and climate-friendly lifestyle.