Bees/o; Development Journal 89
PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
QUALITY HONEY FROM AFFORDABLE LOCAL-STYLE HIVES Jacob Mogga, Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry, Juba, Southern Sudan KEYWORDS: Africa, bee products, beekeeping, development, honey Dee. honey hunting, income generation. savannah, Sudan, training
Southern Sudan has areas of forest and open woodland savannah that are rich with nectar and pollen producing plants. These natural forests with no contamination from chemical pesticides or other industrial
potlution, offer Southern Sudan the potential to be one of the best honey production areas of East and Central Africa. With rainfall for nine
months (at the extreme south-west towards Congo} to six months (at its northern borders), there is enough natural forage to support bee colonies all year round and enable two to three honey harvests per year. Under these good conditions, honey hunters and beekeepers exploit bees to harvest honey for consumption and income generation.
Dr
decades of civil war have prevented beekeeping development: ey delivered to market is generally of low quality and sold in various containers. Improvement of bee product quality has now started in Western and Central Equatoria States to enable producers to sell quality
a fual the local sivie Gf Ouiaing
in another
black combs or unripe honey. Any ripe haney honeycombs are put in other containers as Grade I!I honey, suitable to process for home consumption or for sale to !ocal beer brewers. The first two grades are the ones to sell or process for further commercial container as Grade
in
Il
packaging.
Minimum use of smoke
Removal of bees and other debris
Burning grass or twigs are used to smoke during honey harvest. Due to the destructive and ruthless ways that honeycombs are removed, especially from wild nests by honey hunters, most calm bee strains are being killed in favour of defensive ones that have better chances to
During the honeycomb grading, any pieces of charcoal from burnt grasses or twigs used to produce smoke, pieces of leaves or grasses and dead bees, combs containing pollen stores and brood, should all be removed from Grade and Il honeycombs to avoid contamination of |
survive and multiply. Thus despite the bees’ defensiveness, producers are being trained to adopt gentle treatment of their bees, using little smoke or burning grass.
the honey.
Use of suitable containers and proper handling Grades
and | honeycombs should be stored in clean, dry, air-tight containers to avoid absorption of moisture and unpleasant odours, or invasion by ants. Uncoated metallic drums or wet containers should not
Proper honeycomb grading When using local-style hives, producers cannot, once removed, return unripe honeycombs into the hives, so honeycombs must be graded immediately after harvest. This means that ripe, sealed honey in white,
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be used for storing these honeycombs because they easily rust or increase in moisture content. Strong smelling soaps must not be used
honey.
for washing honey containers.
t+
JACOB MOGGA
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ii
50-75% sealed honey with yellow or brown combs are put
honey and beeswax, and this will help towards alleviating their dire poverty. We are training producers on the following:
uallow or brown combs is placed in one container as Grade
Jacol +
lakes place
Never boil combs Honey should be extracted only by draining through perforated containers or galvanized wire mesh. It must at all times be properly covered with a clean sheet or cloth to avoid bee foragers coming to
BEL ah
DEVELOPMENT
collect the honey.
A beekveper
slis near his local-siyle hives The hive on the left is made from
split bamboo.
Filtering honey through 2 sieve
