BEEKEEPING & DEVELOPMENT 39
FACTS ABOUT “A FRAME FOR THE KENYA TOP-BAR HIVE”...
PRACTICAL Z“CXBEEKEEPING 3s
reply to previous articles by
In
Stanely K Mbobua, Kenya
developing the Ruai frame the idea was not:
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to be able to centrifuge honey out of the frames,
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to make it easy to move Kenya top-bar hives,
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to prevent migratory swarms from building fresh wax combs.
On the contrary the idea is to: @
encourage bees to build fresh wax combs,
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leave the hives where they are,
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market honey in sections of honeycomb, not as liquid honey.
[am not claiming that this is the best way to do it, but it is the way we are doing it at Ruai!
HOW TO PRODUCE SECTIONS OF COMB HONEY USING THE RUAI
FRAME Time to insert frames - at the start of the honey flow.
Colonies to select - those colonies with at least eight honeycombs. Where to place frames - at the far end of the
COMB PROCESSING AND PACKING
Remove the honey frames and transfer them to catcher boxes. Replace the removed frames with top-bars from the catcher box. Seal the entrances of the catcher box.
Leave the Kenya top-bar hive where it is and transport the honey inside the catcher box.
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Beekeeping here is practised mainly by the poorest of the poor. If you use strong words like ‘fiddling’ you may threaten this group of innovators. This category of ‘have nots’ may, if threatened, slip easily to the more dangerous level of ‘expect not to have’.”
Wrap the sections with self-clinging clear food wrap. This film should be crystal clear and cling tightly to seal in comb freshness and flavour. We place the sealed combs in triangular olive wood containers then seal them further with food wrap. We label them. We are thus able to have an appetisingly fresh and attractive product for our customers.
COMB HONEY PRODUCTION WITH THE KENYA TOP-BAR FRAME L rT
k= 45cm
a 48cm
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Kenya top-bar frame
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16.5cm
COMB QUALITY
HARVESTING AND TRANSPORTING
have read the articles by Mark Luckhurst (B&D35) and Bernhard Clauss (B&D36) with concern. am in charge of beekeeping extension in the district where Ruai is situated. “|
mesh.
three frames and fill them with capped honey in two weeks.
Unlike suspended combs and the Nightingale frame*, the comb will be attractively filled at the margins and around the wires. During slicing of the comb relatively little damage is done to the comb.
District writes:
You should end up with three triangular sections of about 14 x 22 x 22 cm, each weighing about 600 g. Dry the comb sections by suspending them on some clean nylon
hive away from the entrance.
Position ~ Six honeycombs after the brood, and at least two places before the end of the hive. Bees will reduce comb building in other areas and quickly build combs on the
Mr Mbobua, Beekeeping Officer for Laikipia
Place the frame flat on a tray. Slice the comb along both sides of the wires, then all along the wooden frame leaving at least 0.5 cm of comb with the wire and wooden frame.
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o My
ee
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Kenya top-bar frame with capped honey
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Packed comb honey from one
Kenya top-bar frame
You can barely get two such combs from one suspended (frame-less) comb
*Jim Nightingale invented a method of using bamboo sticks to support the comb built from a top-bar
A Bees for Development publication
THREE
