BEEKEEPING & DEVELOPMENT 43
FER
SIMPLE GLOVES by
Rosemary Mngazija
GLOVES ARE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT for beginner beekeepers and when bees are very vicious. The best bee glove is one which does not allow stings to go through and which allows you to work in a confident way. We can categorise bee gloves according to how they are made: @
*359
Gloves made of cloth (the glove is coated with rubber).
<&_BEEKEEPING
® Gloves made of leather. @ Gloves made of plastic. Leather gloves last for a long time, but they are difficult to get and to sew, and also the leather is expensive. Plastic gloves are the cheapest, and you can get them easily. They are also simple to sew and the material can be purchased at low-cost. Here in Tanzania plastic tubes are available in the shops and from these we make useful, low-cost gloves.
Cut the size of the gloves you want by placing your hand on the sheet. Then cut out the shape, leaving enough to make a hem (about 20 mm all round).
After that join the seams. There are different ways of joining - you can sew the pieces together (you will need about two metres of thread), or by joining with heat (we use a beeswax candle).
ASIAN APICULTURAL
ASSOCIATION
The Asian Apicultural Association (AAA) assists with communication and exchange of information between beekeepers and bee scientists in Asia. AAA administrative headquarters are in Japan. Networking between countries is also assisted by AAA Representatives (Chapters) throughout Asia. Membership costs USS20 per year. You can send your payment directly to the AAA Office, Honeybee Science Research Center, Tamagawa University, Machida, Tokyo, 194, Japan. Fax: (+81) 427 398 685. Or you can join AAA by contacting your local representative. Names and addresses of local representatives can be found in B&D40
page ten.
A Bees for Development publication
PRACTICAL
,
Glove seams can be joined by melting using a candle
Rosemary Mngazija is a researcher Njiro Wildlife Research Centre
(NWRC), Tanzania. NWRC and
The plastic glove is cheap because you can buy one metre of plastic tube for 300TSH (USS0.50) and from it you can make two or three gloves. Leather gloves cost about 3000 TSH (USS5) each.
This is an example of how we can make simple beekeeping equipment that is not at all costly for the beekeeper. Welcome
to the
Plastic Bee Glove Users’ Club!!
Conference Objectives @ To exchange scientific information on Asian bees #
To highlight beekeeping practices and science unique to Asia
e
To define the importance of bee products in Asia
®
To stress the importance of beekeeping for a diversified environment
Bees for Development are co-operating on a three-year project
“Sustainable Beekeeping for Africa” funded by the United Kingdom
DFID. Editor's Note: The UK's new Labour Government has :*
renamed the former ODA as the Department. International Development, DFID.
‘For
-~
FOURTH ASIAN APICULTURAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE 22-27 March 1998
Kathmandu, Nepal
Conference Themes @
#
Biology of Asian bees Management of Asian bees and Apis mellifera in Asia
#
Beekeeping products and marketing
e
Beekeeping development programmes
For further details: contact Mr K K Shrestha, Conference Secretary (address in Look Ahead page 11)
B&D is the official newsletter of the Asian Apicultural Association
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