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Facts about “a frame for the Kenya top-bar hive”... Reply to previous articles...
by Stanely Mbobua, Kenya
Mr Mbobua, Beekeeping Officer for Laikipia District writes:
In developing the Ruai frame the idea was not:
-to be able to centrifuge honey out of the frames,
- to make it easy to move Kenya top-bar hives,
- to prevent migratory swarms from building fresh wax combs.
On the contrary the idea is to:
- encourage bees to build fresh wax combs,
- leave the hives where they are,
- market honey in sections of honeycomb, not as liquid honey.
I 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 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 three frames and fill them with capped honey in two weeks.
COMB QUALITY
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.
HARVESTING AND TRANSPORTING
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.
*Jim Nightingale invented method of using bamboo sticks to support the comb built from top-bar
COMB PROCESSING AND PACKING
Place the frame flat on 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.
You should end up with three triangular sections of about 14 22 22 cm, each weighing about 600 g. Dry the comb sections by suspending them on some clean nylon mesh.
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.
MARKETING
The Ruai Club motivates beekeepers to produce honey of excellent quality by offering attractive prices to compete with external honey brands. This has been done consistently since 1977. The price for comb honey is double the price of liquid honey, and triple the price of crude honey.
EXTENSION
Bark hive beekeepers here are teaching us an impressive lesson. In an area with lot of Euphorbia candelabrum and Acacia mellifera some innovation is required to harvest both bitter and sweet honeys from the same hive.
In September bark hive beekeepers harvest bitter Euphorbia honey and then prepare their bark hives to harvest sweet Acacia mellifera honey in October. Then there is mixed flora honey, locally called “grass” honey, in December. If you are lucky there is even a further crop in January.
The consistent market for fresh, white comb acacia honey by some commercial ranchers has motivated beekeepers to produce these combs.
In farmers’ search for sources of income, brood renewal in these bark hives is regular, and the crop higher per year than from Kenya top-bar hives.
Our Beekeeping Department is keen to introduce this technique to Kenya top-bar hives by means of the Ruai frame. Worker bees hatching from new, white combs are bigger bodied and more active.
We have staged a number of field demonstrations and tours at Ruai and in Ewaso area, to allow bark hive beekeepers and Kenya top-bar hive beekeepers to meet with one another.
THE RUAI FRAME IS THEREFORE PART OF OUR SEARCH FOR MORE ATTRACTIVE MARKETING IT IS OUR GATEWAY TO EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT
