News

CAMEROON

North-West Bee Farmers Association

NOWEBA sees training as the most effective strategy for promoting sustainable beekeeping and improving both quality and quantity of honey, and has consequently embarked on a series of training tours.

Four workshops for selected groups were organised in the Co-operative College, Bamenda, and in Mfonta 30 one-day workshops were also organised around the Province.

To date NOWEBA has trained total of 1528 bee farmers in basic skills. Source: Honey News, No 4, December 1995.

NEPAL

profile of Himalayan Bee Concern

Himalayan Bee Concern promotes beekeeping activities in Nepal. Its objectives are:

- To help rural people sustain their economy.

- To organise training programmes.

- To supply equipment.

- To organise the sale and marketing of honey and wax.

- To help conserve the environment by planting bee flora.

To date HBC has provided training for 96 groups (over 3000 participants). The training programmes are sponsored by CARE-Nepal, Cottage and Small Industry Development Agricultural Bank, FAO, GTZ, ICIMOD and USC Canada. After training is completed participants are provided with bee hives and other necessary equipment.

Rural beekeepers receive only low price for their honey. It is usually bartered along with “ghee” (butter). HBC helps in marketing their honey, giving the beekeepers better price.

Soni Basnet

PHILIPPINES

The Bee Program of the University of the Philippines at Los Banos is actively introducing technology for indigenous bees, Apis cerana, to farmers. One advantage of using indigenous bees is their low-cost which is affordable by the small-scale farmers. It is also sustainable. The genetics team at the University is working on the morphometrics and DNA of Apis cerana populations in the whole country to identify whether there are sub-species of Apis cerana. This data will be useful in selecting races for use in beekeeping.

During regular training courses the transfer of wild colonies to hives is taught to participants. The course organisers encourage farmers to try out methods to discover which will work best for them.

Cleo Cervancia

TANZANIA

Arumeru Beekeepers’ Society

The objectives of the Society are:

- To increase awareness of the advantages of keeping bees.

- To provide technical expertise to members.

- To provide the opportunity to buy beekeeping equipment using cost-recovery system.

- To develop strong strains of honeybees ana stingless bees and thus increase production of bee products and secondary products, for example candles, cosmetics, medicine and polish.

- To create awareness amongst people that beekeeping is an industry that can create employment and useful products.

- To link with other associations involved in the conservation and restructuring of nature to provide better a environment for bees

The Society's motto is “Bees are Wealth, Bees are Development, Bees are Co-operation”. Mr Makawa, ABESO Co-ordinator, Tanzania.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Beekeepers from Trinidad and Tobago embraced an opportunity to upgrade their beekeeping knowledge and skills, when Michael Duggan, a beekeeping technical adviser attached to the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) visited the islands. The visit was arranged primarily by the Tobago Apicultural Society (TAS).

Michael Duggan spent 16 days in Tobago where he conducted a workshop on honey quality and judging, beeswax processing, bee diseases, and the harvesting of pollen and royal jelly. There were also individual practical sessions with beekeepers and lectures for students at the Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School, where TAS conducts beekeeping project.

The workshop was repeated at three venues and over 150 beekeepers and agricultural extension officers attended the workshops on both islands.

Since April 1994 TAS has been pursuing a beekeeping development programme with the assistance of funding from the Government of the Netherlands. Mr Duggan’s stay in Tobago was intended to assist the Society in the implementation of this programme.

Regarding beekeeping in Tobago, Mr Duggan concluded that the basic quality of queens seemed to be excellent docile, and prolific layers with no reports of excessive swarming. Also there are no signs of disease or parasites other than the greater wax moth and Braula There are some excellent beekeepers the honey had wonderful taste and physical properties. Included amongst Mr Duggan’s recommendations were: overseas training for suitable person for first-time warnings of diseases, quicker turnover of old combs, elimination of wax wastage, continued participation in the National Honey Show in London, UK, and continued subscription to the journal Beekeeping Development!

Gladstone Solomon President of TAS and B&D’s

Correspondent in Trinidad and Tobago

UGANDA

Beekeeping Research Project

The Uganda Beekeepers’ Association has embarked upon research programme to compare different types of hives concerning production, duration and susceptibility to pests and predators. At present we have top-bar hives with sloping sides, with straight sides, Langstroth hives with top-bars instead of frames, and traditional woven and log hives. The project commenced in early September 1995 and is situated in Luwero District, about 50 miles from Kampala.

Geraldine Nsubuga, B&D’s Correspondent in Uganda.

ZAMBIA

The Co-ordinator of honey collectors in Mwinilunga, Amos Maliti, said their activities will spread to other parts of the Province because of the good collection expected this year. The amount of rainfall experienced in the year has bearing on the quantity and quality of honeys, so the good rainfall this year indicates good quality harvest.

Honey collectors are not limited by markets because demand is high with customers in Zambia and foreign buyers. Mr Maliti pointed out that his organisation would welcome more buyers to the Province as this would motivate his members to spread to areas not covered on regular basis.

Source: Times of Zambia, May 1996, sent to B&D by Reinhard Fichtl currently working in Zambia

ZIMBABWE

Never too late to learn

At 66 years of age Mr Tapera moves around as energetically as worker bee. He is the Headman of Gwava village, 15 km from Masvingo town in south Zimbabwe. Mr Tapera began beekeeping when he was 14 years old, learning from his father. The process involved making hives from tree bark and honey harvesting Once the bark was removed the tree died. Harvesting involved the use of torch of burning grass, which killed a lot of bees and sometimes caused bush fires. The process was carried out at night and the beekeeper had to be half-clothed to avoid bees sticking to clothes.

In August 1994 beekeeping workshop was held in the village bringing together about 30 participants: most were women. The objective of the workshop was to improve local beekeeping skills and encourage others to start beekeeping not only for income generation, but as means of environmental conservation people only value things when they benefit directly. The workshop inspired Mr Tapera to care more for the bees. At the time of the workshop he had eight traditional hives and no one else in the village kept bees at all.

Today Gwava village is taking the lead in beekeeping. Each household has at least one top-bar hive bought through grant from the UN Trickle Up Programme Mr Tapera was not content with the one hive from the grant. He has made ten top-bar hives using dry logs collected in the forest and has improved the smoker he uses. He no longer cuts bark to make hives.

The women’s sewing group in the village make veils for the beekeepers and Mr Tapera is committee member of Bondolfi Beekeepers’ Association. This is a community based association which unites beekeepers around the region. Its objective is to disseminate appropriate technology to the beekeepers, market their honey and strengthen the environmental base which is the pillow of beekeeping.

You see it is never too late to learn!

Thomas Chale, UN Volunteer