As a part of our tour of the Province of Bohol, we went to the famous Bohol Bee Farm. It is an eco-themed tourist destination that presents a lot more than just the bees. For a very small amount of Php 30.00, you get a chance to have a guided tour of their herb farm, livelihood areas, ice cream factory, and of course the famous honey bees.
Our guide took us to the reception area where all the tours start. While waiting for our guided tour to start, we went to check out the ice cream bar that has lots of interesting and exotic flavors for sale.
I tried the Durian flavor because I personally like that fruit and yes, it tastes heavenly. They say that the flavors were all natural and that the cone out there that hold the ice cream is made from ground tapioca.
The Tour
Our first stop is at the organic vegetable and herb section. The guide gave us a short introduction about their farm and then went on to show us the different herbs and spices that they have.
Next up is the livelihood area where we saw workers who are weaving materials from the buri leaves. The mat that they weave is later turned into bags and other novelty items that they put up for sale in their store.
We were then taken to the ice cream production area. There is also an area for tableya, tea, and spread production.
The highlight of our tour is on the Bee Farm. Well not actually inside the farm. The guide showed us one model unit of their honey bee production. It is like coming back to school and learning about the life of bees with an added bonus of seeing a bee colony in person.
We were allowed to see the bees up close and we were even able to extract and taste the honey straight from their honeycomb.
The guided tour ended there and we were led to their souvenir shop.
I said earlier that the entrance fee is just for thirty pesos. I didn’t know that the exit fee is way much higher. That is because we ended up spending a small fortune for the mouth watering stuff that they have inside the shop.
The store operates like a perfume shop where there are testers for the items on sale. The items were so good and are all certified to be made with natural ingredients only. We especially liked the spreads and so we had to pay for the exit fee. Something that we didn’t regret by the way. Who are we to say no to these…
A side story: I paid for our exit fee using my credit card. I received the notification from my bank about the debit, the staff however noted that it was not credited to them. The cashier called the manager who politely told me about the issue. I just left them my phone number and told them to contact if the payment was not really credited to them. Later in the day, I received a call and they told me that upon contacting my bank, the bank said that the transaction was reversed. This means, I thought, that I have to go back Bohol Bee Farm to make the payment. The person on the line however told me that they have a stall in Alona Beach and so we just went there because it was nearer. I paid my bill and I had the chance to buy another scoop of the Durian ice cream.
In conclusion, our visit to Bohol Bee Farm is worth the entrance and exit fee that we spent. We highly recommend it specially for family trips because kids would surely love it and much more, learn a lot from it.
