Putting Tunisian honey on the map

In July 2014 Khaled Bouchoucha quit his job as a fleet engineer manager at aeronautic company Sabena Technics to start his own business working with… bees!

“From airplanes to bees- both are flying,” laughs Bouchoucha. Though the similarities ended there he took a leap of faith, quitting his job before the first investment was secured, and seeking to establish the first company in Tunisia using technology to boost beekeepers’ productivity.

The idea first came when Bouchoucha’s father complained about his bees dying.

“What if we put an electronic card within the hive to monitor its conditions?” he suggested. His father laughed and thought he was crazy. But the idea was born and since then Bouchoucha has received investment from five different partners and the awards keep on coming.

Change of strategy

The young entrepreneur quickly identified two problems on the beekeeping market: management as well as distribution and expertise. By embedding electronics IRIS Technologies seeks to find and fix these challenges.

An electronic card in each hive will monitor temperature and humidity, sending all data to IRIS, which analyses the result before sending recommendations to the beekeepers via SMS. “If it is too humid for example in the hive it will affect the quality of the honey,” explains Bouchoucha.

Another important part of the service will be a security kit, which will include a GPS. An SMS is sent if the hive is being moved, which may prevent hives from being stolen, a common problem in Tunisia.

Original article by Christine Petré

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Putting Tunisian honey on the map