The Bohol Bee Farm--Part One: The Farm Grounds

Matt and I weren’t sure what to expect when the Bee Farm Van rolled off the asphalt and onto the dirt road that lead to the Bee Harm. Small huts and houses—mostly run down—sprinkled the landscape. The road was dusty and the forest of palms and brush sparse and dry. Though neither of us said it, we both thought: Oh god, this place is going to be a dump.

Then we started to pass some gardens, covered in black netting, a pool with a waterfall, and then we pulled up to a line of attractive buildings. The staff removed our luggage and whisked it away. A young, short woman—Jojo—walked out in a tropical print dress and greeted us. She let us know that our room wasn’t quite clean yet, and asked if we’d like to stay in another house until ours was ready. We stood in an open market area, surrounded by native crafts—hats, belts, purses—as well as shelves of honey. Several hammocks hung from the roof, a large buffet table; everything about the place felt luxurious.

Shelves of honey:

Jojo led us down to our temporary home, a house called “The Colony”--each house has a bee themed name.

The hanging vine entry way

We walked through an arbor of a hanging vine plants, the trails of vines swept us as we passed underneath. They served us organic iced lemon grass tea (sweetened with honey) and organic squash muffins (also sweetened with honey)--all on the house.

Our home for three days

We fell in love with our new home immediately—the open floor plan, the two balconies (one on each floor) that looked out onto the ocean from its cliff-top perch, the simplicity of design and building materials. The warmth of the wood, the hand made quilt on our bed, the wall of windows that let the light and breeze in. The place was beautiful. The house, which we later found out was Vicky’s old house, was available for the three nights we planned to stay there. We decided to pay the extra money and treat ourselves.

The view from our bedroom

Over the next three days we toured the facility, got massages, had the most incredibly organic and artistically inspired food, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I highly recommend the Bohol Bee Farm to all.

Getting ready for a massage...