In Issue 22

A recent visitor to this office seemed somewhat hesitant to discuss his beekeeping. After cup of tea he decided to confide in us. "The truth is" he admitted " I keep bees in Langstroth hives!"

Perhaps it is time for me to emphasise that this journal advocates only one type of beekeeping: Appropriate beekeeping!

Appropriate here means beekeeping at level of technology appropriate to available resources. Amongst resources I include materials, equipment, time and know-how. The most appropriate hive for particular situation might well be log hive, top-bar hive, a Langstroth frame hive or one of many others, depending upon the circumstances. On pages eight and nine of this edition you will find details of chika hive, a hive made from mud blocks in Ethiopia, and very appropriate in a region where houses are already made from this chika because of the scarcity and expense of timber.

Our visitor worked in an area with plenty of timber and all of the facilities for making and using Langstroth hives, the equipment was well suited to the bees and the climate and together they yielded highly economic returns of honey and beeswax. He left out office happy in the knowledge that he had been practicing appropriate beekeeping all the time!

Bees for Development

1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org