BEEKEEPING
ZOOMING IN
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...GHANA
Size
equivalent of) 1.5 and 6S per litre Beeswax is much in demand for use in the lost-wax method of casting bronze ornaments.
miles)
Population 13,704,000
Honeybee diseases
Geography
Ghana is in the very fortunate position of no bee diseases having so far been found,
Ghana is in West Africa. The South and West are covered by dense rainforest, while a narrow grassy plain stretches inland from the coast. In the North are forested hills beyond which are dry savannah and open woodland. In the far North is a plateau of 500m. The Black and White Volta rivers enter Ghana from Burkina Faso and merge into the world’s largest manmade lake, Lake Volta
t
Ghana Beekeepers’ Association, PO Box 9581, Airport-Accra.
Training
Lake Volta
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ekumssin?
Ashanti Plateau
The Apiculture Promotion Unit of the Technology Consultancy Centre has provided beekeeping training to several thousand Ghanaians and many from outside Ghana. It also encourages equipment manufacture and supply, and generally has done much to promote beekeeping by seminars, workshops and exhibitions.
Tropical. Rainy season April-July.
crops
Cocoa is the main cash crop: in recent years Ghana has suffered from the low world price for cocoa. Other widely grown crops include Citrus spp, coffee, cotton and oil palm.
Research
Honeybees
ACCRA
Research on honeybees and carpenter bees is carried out at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, and by other individual researchers.
Apis mellifera adansonii. Beekeepers in Ghana find
this bee highly defensive, and colonies abscond readily.
Beekeeping Honey hunting resulting in the destruction of wild colonies is still practised. Traditional beekeeping methods are also used widely. In the Volta region log hives are made from old Royal Palm trunks. In the North clay pots and gourds are used as containers for bees, and in the Central region clay pots of a different design are used. The crushed stalks of the “hakyem” vine (Adenia cissampeloides) are used to
The golden insect- a handbook on
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recent years beekeeping has been assisted and promoted by a number of projects including: The GRATIS Project, National In
by S Adjare (1984) 112 pages. Beekeeping in Africa
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by S Adjare (1990) 130 pages.
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Both these publications are available for purchase from
Bees for Development.
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Journal
Number of beekeepers There are many beekeepers, most with less than 20 hives.
Ghana Bee News, The Editor, Technology
Consultancy Centre, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. GRATIS News (often carries beekeeping information): David Clare, Ministry of Industries, Science & Technology, PO Box 151, Tema.
Beekeepers read ther notice board at a
meeling held ut Accra
Zoom into Ghana this November for the Second West Africa Beekeeping Research Seminar.
Beeswax processing
Melliferous vegetation Major flowering periods occur at the beginning and end of the rainy season Species of acacia, albizia, cassia, citrus, eucalyptus, gmelina, hibiscus, neem, palm, and sunflower, are important for bees along with many other
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STEPHEN ADIARE
Production
beekeeping for beginners
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Service Secretariat, Presbyterian Church, and Salvation Army. Funding for these has been provided by CIDA (Canada), GTZ (Germany), Oxfam and several other organisations. FAO and VSO have provided techinical assistance, and IFS has sponsored individuals’ research projects.
also been tested.
Honey: price varies between (the local
Atlantic Ocean
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Support for projects
Frame hives (modified Langstroth and Dadant) have been in use since at least the 1960s. Topbar hives were first introduced to Ghana in the late 1970s, and promoted by a number of projects during the 1980s, There is much debate between Ghanaian bee experts as to which design of hive is most appropriate. The Bielby hive (a low-technology frame hive) has
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Publications
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due bees.
Native species.
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Beekeeping Association
Climate ain
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ET
238,537 km (92,100
DEVELOPMENT
BURKINA FASO
PEIN WA APM
ON
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This meeting is organised by Ghana Beekeepers’ Association and will be held in Aburi Botanical Gardens For further details see
Look Ahead on page
twelve THIRTEEN
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