2 minute read
In Issue 58
Dear friends
Welcome to Beekeeping & Development edition 58. These lines come to you from Uganda, where I am reviewing the apiculture industry on behalf of The Commonwealth Secretariat.
Uganda sits each side of the Equator in East Africa. Uganda is green and beautiful, and boasts the source of the river Nile, high mountains and many great lakes. The tropical but mild climate - most of Uganda is over 1000 m in altitude - combined with abundant rainfall, support lush vegetation and all the natural resources needed for beekeeping.
The population of Uganda is about 17 million. 90% of working Ugandans are subsistence farmers or employed in the agriculture sector. Perhaps there are around 100,000 beekeepers. Placed in trees throughout the country are large, skilfully-made hives, crafted from a range of materials: bamboo, grass, woven lantana stems covered with smooth clay, banana fibre, hollowed-out palm trunks, logs or bark. As in most places, the bees range from mild-mannered to hot-tempered. With training, it is possible to harvest honey of excellent quality from these hives, and without harming the bees.
Ugandan beekeepers should be doing well: no bee diseases seem to be present, and forage is abundant. Nevertheless, many beekeepers I have spoken to are not encouraged in their craft. They find no market for their honey, and produced only enough for their own family. Some leave beeswax lying on the ground, believing it to be a waste product.
Yet, honey traders in Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, have had no honey supplies this month, and customers are waiting for honey.
There have been many beekeeping projects here since the 1980s, but with a few good exceptions, most have achieved little. Failed projects have focused only on changing beekeepers from using traditional, local equipment to top-bar or frame hives. Few beekeepers have had success with these.
The best help for beekeepers here will be assured market access. They need training to provide the honey quality that consumers want, and organisational assistance to ensure that honey is available in the quantity that buyers need.
As one beekeeper put it:
This Beekeeping & Development brings you good suggestions for managing those hot tempered bees on page 10; a positive outcome from a special beekeeping project on the Island of Rodrigues (see page six); and another smoker blast full of fresh beekeeping news and ideas! Do not forget to enter the photo contest: Read more on page five.
Nicola Bradbear
Bees for Development
Bees for Development1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Tel: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org
