Agnan “Busy” St. Louis starts his mornings before sunrise. With a fresh cup of coffee sweetened with honey from his bee farm, he sits on his patio at 5:30 am to gather his thoughts and say his daily prayers. No day can start without this routine.

Busy, as he prefers to be called, got his nickname, not from his association with bees oddly enough, but from primary school, where he reminded his teacher of a lively character in a storybook. Regardless, it is a fitting nickname for this active beekeeper.

Before Busy heads down to his bee farm in the quiet village of Colihaut in Dominica’s St. Peter parish (region), the construction worker turned beekeeper admits that he now loves what he does.

But life was not always sweet for Busy. He grew up without a father figure and his mother worked doubly hard to ensure that he along with his three brothers and one sister had a comfortable life. “Those were tough days. But thankfully they are behind me, and I’m just pushing forward.”