News

BELARUS

Our meeting held in December 2002 in Minsk was attended by more then 100 beekeepers, bee researchers and business people. Participants discussed the problems of bee diseases, unfavourable weather conditions and environmental pollution. An outcome of the meeting was the establishment of 'Byelorussian bees’ - Minsk Beekeepers’ Club. Statutes were accepted, a Board appointed and Kamenkov Vladimir elected as President. Byelorussian Bees exists to:

- promote the craft of beekeeping;

- improve the relationships of professional and amateur beekeepers, young and old;

- stimulate private enterprise and democratic institutions;

- develop and promote good bee management systems;

- train and inform Minsk beekeepers and involve young people in apiculture;

- select for the good qualities of indigenous bees;

- support research into bee health management;

- liaise with relevant government departments;

- establish international contacts and correspond with beekeepers around the world;

To date Byelorussian Bees has taken part in ‘Inter honey 2003' in Moscow, Russia and ‘Polish beekeeping days Pszczela Wola bee freedom’ in Lublin, Poland. Our next step is to unite beekeeping organisations throughout Belarus to initiate a Republican Beekeepers' Association, and in connection with this we hope to form partnerships with beekeepers from other countries.

Serge Verheichik Vice-President of Byelorussian Bees, Minsk

BRAZIL

Indigenous communities in Mato Grosso in the Xingu region are harvesting and processing honey which is now being sold outside the State. The communities currently market 1,500 kg of honey per month and production is increasing. In July, a shipment of honey was sent to three São Paulo supermarkets. The producers are in negotiation with the Pao de Acgucar supermarket chain (with shops in twelve states of Brazil): a deal could open the door to the international market. This honey has strong commercial appeal as it is produced by Indians and has organic certification from the Biodynamic Institute. The Certificate is awarded only to products from sustainable practices that do not harm the environment. The honey is the first indigenous product to receive a Federal Inspection Seal from the Ministry of Agriculture, which means it is produced in accordance with health and safety legislation. The Seal authorises sale of the honey in other states.

Source: Amazon News, 17 July 2003, (newsletter@amazonia.org.br)

DR CONGO

Zébédée Lusambya Lubinda sent in this photograph of members from Actions de Charité pour le Développement et la Réadaptation des Handicapes who practise beekeeping in Fizi District, South-Kivu Province. The group recently started receiving Bees for Development Journal thanks to Bees for Development Trust sponsorship.

MEXICO

Coffee to honey = profits

Miguel Pérez gave up on coffee seven years ago. Like other small growers in Xaquild, a rural hamlet in the state of Chiapas, he was finding it harder and harder to make a living with this traditional crop, trading at some of the lowest prices for a century. So Miguel decided to try honey production. "It is less back-breaking than growing coffee, because bees do most of the work for you," he points out.

Many of his fellow members of Productores Agropecuarios de la Selva Lacandona, a co-operative based in Ocosingo, in the highlands of Chiapas, followed a similar path. Starting with a few hives obtained through a government programme in 1992, the co-operative grew to have 1,700 active colonies within seven years. The co-operative members built a storage shed by pooling some subsidies and giving in eight days of labour per member.

Despite these efforts, most of the co-operative's members were only just getting by. Bad weather and diseases sapped output. The co-operative lacked vehicles to pick up honey in remote areas, and equipment to properly filter the product. Worst of all, the co-operative . never had enough cash available to make advance payments to its members. As a consequence, most members had to sell to ‘coyotes’ - itinerant intermediary traders who pay farmers a fraction of what they should receive for their crops.

The beekeepers heard about loans offered by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which had launched a programme to help organisations in marginal areas of southeast Mexico. The co-operative fitted the basic requirements of the programme: established for over three years and with members in 30 rural communities in Chiapas, the poorest state in Mexico and almost all of them belonging to indigenous groups. They had a potentially profitable product, but lacked the financial and technical means to extract more value from their honey.

After applying to the programme, the co-operative started working with an IDB team to develop a four-year plan to increase output and productivity. In January 1999 they signed an agreement for a ten year, US$490,000 soft loan that would help them buy 3,000 new hives and equipment to raise queen bees. The loan allowed them also to make improvements to their storage plant and equip it with sanitary filtration and homogenisation vats.

The IDB gave the co-operative a US$137,000 grant to strengthen the organisation, with everything from office equipment to assistance with organising taxes and accounting, and resources to hire technicians to train members in the production of organic honey.

By 2003 the co-operative reported 6,000 hives in production and an annual output of 180 tonnes. Trucks now pick up honey which is processed and bottled in the co-operative's own plant under their brand name, La Cafiada. Cough syrups, lozenges, tonics, royal jelly and propolis complement honey sales.

Importantly, the co-operative has cash flow to pay their members at rates far better than those offered by ‘coyotes’. In fact, some intermediary traders have tried to join to make a quick profit by reselling honey they continue to buy from non-members.

The co-operative is raising queen bees to stock its hives and to sell to other producers. It has a carpentry shop where hives are made and offered on a hire purchase system to members. There is a tree nursery to raise seedlings of Citrus and other flowering trees that produce nectar and pollen for the bees and generate other sources of revenue. The members have decided to diversify by growing tomatoes and chilli peppers in hothouses.

Originally sold in Chiapas and in Mexico City, the co-operative's honey is now exported also to Europe. "We get e-mails every day, requesting hundreds of kilos of honey,” says Enrique Velazquez, the co-operative's general manager. The members hope to place their own brand There are also more opportunities in the domestic market. Enrique notes that Mexicans consume far less honey than their North American neighbours. So they want to tap into a school lunch programme run by Mexico's Social Welfare Department in order to provide tube-shaped sachets of honey for children.

Miguel Pérez now has 60 productive hives, four times as many as when the IDB programme started. He receives nearly three times the price for his honey the 'coyotes' used to pay him. ‘I'm doing much better and hope to give my three children a good education."

A serious reminder from the IDB team is that prices are good today but they may not be always that way: strengthen your organisation, so that you reap the benefits later.

Source: Peter Bate, www.iadb.org

TANZANIA

Beekeeping in Handeni

The idea to encourage beekeeping as a way of raising income was thanks to the efforts of enthusiastic traditional beekeepers. The abundance of honey produced in Handeni meant that it was consumed locally as well as across other parts of Tanzania. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism (MNRT), in collaboration with local and international agencies, decided to sustain the traditional beekeepers by boosting their beekeeping practices. The following agencies have been involved:

- Tanga Integrated Rural Development Programme (TIRDEP - a GTZ agency) 1974-1977. As soon as it was phased out it was replaced by Mwambao Beekeeping Project established under the MNRT.

- Diocesan Integrated Agroforestry Programme (DIAP - an Anglican Church agency) 1995 to date.

- NORAD (Norwegian government agency) 1999 to date.

- World Vision (a Pentecostal Church agency) 2000 to date.

Evaluation

- TIRDEP catered for all traditional beekeepers.

- DIAP catered for only twelve beekeeping groups in the central part of the District.

- NORAD catered for three selected villages: Mswaki, Negero and Suwa.

- World Vision catered for only twelve other selected beekeeping groups in the eastern part of the District.

Because of the District's flourishing honey production, a honey processing plant was established in Handeni Town. This honey plant catered for Handeni and neighbouring districts but sadly did not last long and is now a defunct object due to: lack of capital to purchase crude honey from rural areas; lack of capital to run the honey plant and wear and tear of working resources.

At its peak the honey plant was capable of producing 800 tonnes of processed honey per year. Out of this 350 tonnes were exported annually to fetch foreign exchange. A honey wine company was established in the town. This was ‘The Nyiti Wine! alias 'The Honey Wine Co Ltd’. It was a privately owned enterprise but also did not last long for reasons best known to the owner. However, before it collapsed it became very famous for its nice honey wine.

Beekeepers in Handeni are now quite aware of preserving biodiversity and bee fodder plants in a sustainable style. They have stopped using bark for making hives and felling valuable timber trees for making log hives. Instead they use dead tree trunks to make log hives. These figures could have been much higher if all the extension services had been maximised by the MNRT through allocating to the District more qualified beekeeping technicians.

Isaac Nshama, Forestry Training Institute, Arusha

Statistical information on Handeni beekeepers

Total number of beekeepers in the district district, mostly: 15,050

Number of hives in the district, mostly local style: 120,400

Total annual honey local styles harvest in the District: 1,500 tonnes