Letters

from India

We have now registered ourselves as co- operative and are being financed by the Government. We hope to market 5000 kg of honey this year and earn handsome profits Our woodworking machine has been in operation for six months and we have been making Langstroth hives using local varieties of timber. We are no longer dependent upon imported pine wood from outside Punjab. Eucalyptus wood, which was hitherto considered unsuitable for the purpose is now being seasoned by us using the field method. After sawing the green tree into planks we keep it immersed in 25% solution of urea for 24 hours and then assemble it before it gets time to get warped. Hives so made stay bee- proof and also stand occasional wetting during the monsoon rains.

IBRA charts sent by you have been framed by us and are regularly used during discussion in our outdoor classes. We are easily able to show that honey quality and especially its tendency to granulate varies with the flower source. There is a mistaken belief here that granulated honey cannot be pure.

The article on “low-cost foundation” (Beekeeping and Development 21) is an eye opener. We have been wasting wax on extra thick sheets thinking that we are providing extra strength to the comb. Now we know that the bees do not like thick sheet and they do not let it stay a thick. We shall now abandon that practice and save on wax which is in short supply.

Major P S Pammi, Punjab Honey and Village Industries, Sanstha

from Cameroon

In February 1991 I organised the first three- day beekeeping course here in Yaoundé, in French and English. More than 20 Cameroonians attended. Most of them I started beekeeping right after the course. Throughout this year have course every second Saturday in French. Ten Cameroonians have been attending regularly. I work with modern frame hives and with top- bar hives, and advise everyone to start with top-bar hives. Because equipment is a problem here I started to put some basic things together. Virtually everything is made locally. Occasionally someone has the money for an imported smoker but the ones made locally are very good. Some of the things are made in a rehabilitation centre for leprosy victims.

I victims. would be happy if you could put my address in Beekeeping and Development. As time allows I will organise further beekeeping courses and help people with advice and equipment My goal is that we can soon form beekeeping club and newcomers can learn from the “oldies”.

Chris Hochstrasser

WEST AFRICA

The West Africa Beekeeping Association is in action! The Executive Committee have made a number of important decisions: each member country has been given until 1 September 1992 to form, revive or consolidate their national beekeeping association. The Executive Committee agreed that the Secretariat of the Association should be based in The Gambia, the proposed Regional Research Centre and Library in Ghana, and the Training Centre in Mali. Preparations are underway for a seminar to be held in Ghana in the last quarter of 1993.

West Africa Beekeeping Association, Ghana.