PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING

USING LOCAL STYLE AND TOP-BARHIVES IN UGANDAGeofrey Kizito, Kikandwa Environmental Association, POBox40, Mityana, Uganda

Keywords: Africa, basket hive, bee disease, beeswax, clay pipe hive,floriculture, log hive

Background informationIn the wild, honey bees nest in hollow trees. Beekeepers used to keepbees in a variety of containers including hollow logs, baskets, claypipes and wooden boxes. However it is not easy extracting honey fromthese hives and it can result in destroying the colony. Now honey beesare kept in improved style hives made of locally available materials.Each community uses different materials available from theirsurrounding environment. The hives are woven like baskets intocylindrical shapes.

Materials required• Locally available material for example bamboo, Dombeyasp, palm

tree, shea nut tree and reeds made into thin strips for weaving• Cow dung• Beeswax• An odd number of sticks each about 2 m long• Corrugated iron sheetMaking the hiveThe beekeeper arranges the sticks in a cylindrical shape (the higher thenumber of sticks the bigger the hive). He/she starts weaving thematerials from one end to another. The beekeeper will smear a 0.25 cmlayer of cow dung on the inside and 1 cm layer on the outside of thehive and leave it to dry. When it is dry the beekeeper will smear theinside of the hive with beeswax to reduce the work for the colony insealing the hive, and to help the bees to build the combs easily.A cover is designed from local materials and sealed with cow dung andbeeswax. Small holes are left to allow entrance and exit of the honey

bees. The iron sheet is placed over the hiveJ» prevent rain fromeausing damage. "*•When the honey area is full, the farmer removes some combs for honeyextraction. Note: a few honey combs are always left behind.

HygieneLike any farmer or animal owner, a good beekeeper must keep her/hiscolony healthy. He/she needs to make sure that the hives are kept dryand are in a sheltered place. The beekeeper will often look at the beesas they go in and out of the hive. If bees are dying most beekeeperssuspect something is wrong and try to find a solution or treatment.Often bees are faced with problems from pesticides and agrochemicalsused in agriculture, and they can abscond to another area. This may beconducive to the colony but is a loss to the beekeeper.It is important to monitor the hives. The beekeeper needs to make surethat bees have enough food at the end of the dry season after removingthe honey, and must make up any discrepancy in the rainy season byfeeding with sugar syrup. He/she may also feed the bees at other timesif the weather is bad and the bees are unable to forage.The beekeeper wears protective clothing (a bee suit) because if theyfeel threatened, honey bees will sting to protect their colony.We have introduced 85 top-bar hives and 300 local style hives. We areencouraging women and young people to join us. From February-Mayand August-November is the wet season, flowering is high and there isa lot of honey. Our objectives are to promote floriculture in thecommunity instead of the bees having to fly long distances in search ofnectar and pollen. Also to begin marketing beeswax as most farmerssee it as a waste product. We know how to use gentle heat to clean waxbut still lack the knowledge to make full use of it, for example in candlemaking. Our challenges are proper handling of honey when harvesting

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Kikandwa Environmental Association beekeepers use both top-bar and local style hives. Corrugated iron sheets are placed over the hives to prevent rain damage

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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING Bees for Development Journal 95

to avoid contamination, marketing and exploitation by middle men. Wemostly target local markets and would like to join the internationalmarket.We obtain a lot of information from the B/D website and have madegood use of it, especially in developing beekeeping and management.We have learned from the experiences other beekeepers send in, and ithas helped our small beekeeping enterprise to move on.

Top-bar hive on a stand

Local style hives are cylindrical in shape and smeared with cow dung on theinside and outside for waterproofing and to keep bees cool

If you have a story to tell about the development of your beekeepingenterprise project and how Bf D has helped, contact us by email,through our website or use the address on page 2.

10th ASIAN APICULTURALASSOCIATION CONFERENCEBusan, South Korea, 4-7 November 2010Hosted by: Asian Apicultural AssociationKorea Beekeeping AssociationApicultural Society of KoreaCongress themeGreen life with bee world

Congress sessions• Apiculture extension• Bee biology• Bee products and apitherapy• Beekeeping economy• Beekeeping technology• Bees and the environment• Melliferous flora and pollination• Pests and diseases

More information: www.aaa2010.or.kr

LEARN AHEADIRELANDIrish Beekeepers Summer Course26-31 July 2010, GormanstonFurther details ryansfancy@gmail.comMEXICOOrganic beekeepingJune - October 2010, TapachulaFurther details www.ecosur.mx/Diplomados.htmlKENYABaraka College CoursesFurther details www.sustainableag.orgUKBees for Development Sustainable Beekeeping CourseAn introduction to alternative, sustainable approaches tobeekeeping.4-5 September 2010, Ragman's LanePermaculture Farm, GloucestershireFurther details www.beesfordevelopment.org

B/D Beekeepers' SafarisTurkey 24 Ju ly -5 August 2010Rodrigues and Mauritius 28 November -9 December 2010Trinidad & Tobago 7-17 February 2011Further details on our website