In the quiet green outskirts of Düzce, Türkiye, where the air smells of chestnut trees and echoes the hum of bees, Nurcan Tekneci adjusts her beekeeper’s veil and lifts the lid of the first hive. The bees rise in a soft wave- busy, organised, tireless- and she smiles.

It is hard to imagine that just a few years ago, this beekeeper- now a trainer, entrepreneur and community inspiration- was living a very different life.