Bee Keeping

Bee-keeping, our goal for 2007- 2010

• Establish 100 bee hives in various locations within catchments areas.
• Able to produce 500 pounds of honey
• Have dependable all season honey producing enterprise going through out the year.
• Train 5 people able to establish their own bee keeping micro business in all areas of project implementation (Magwi County)

In the picture to the right, you can see how people traditionally extract honey from bee colony that made their home in the trunk of a big tree. The other picture demonstrates how bee keeping can be turned into commercial business, create job and help the local people.

In January 2004, Member of Operation Nehemiah Missionary team went to survey Beth Israel-Corom, New Sudan with a possibility of starting some bees business to benefit the local community returning from exile. We found out, the bees are in plainly. After 21 years of war, many Sudanese fled the region… It has become a breeding ground for bees. The whole area has grown up into forest. Bee’s hives are naturally everywhere in the trunk of trees.

Mr. Paskwale Ingi is Operation Nehemiah’s Micro Business Director for Bee Keeping. His focus is to work with local people in Corom – Beth Israel to begin bee-keeping business.

The scope for development
There are three basic stages in the historical development of the bee-human relationship. These are bee killing, bee having, and beekeeping. Modern beekeeping is the most developed stage. The most basic stage, or bee killing, is still common in some parts of the world.
Bee killing is the killing of the bees in a colony so that the combs containing honey and brood (larval and pupal stages) can be taken. Left without honey stores or brood, any surviving bees are doomed. Honey hunters usually regret having to kill the colony, but they know of no other way to obtain honey or wax.

Wild bee colonies are common in many regions of the world, and the gathering of honey from these colonies is an occasional activity for many local farmers. This often occurs when trees containing bee colonies are felled during the clearing of forest and bush for planting crops. Honey hunters or gatherers usually use “.

Why Develop Beekeeping? Beekeeping is an activity that fits well with the concept of small-scale agricultural development. it is a labor-intensive undertaking which can be easily integrated into larger agricultural or forestry projects. Bees not only aid in the pollination of some crops used in such projects, but they make use of otherwise unused resources - nectar and pollen.

A small beekeeping project can be profitable from the beginning. After a project is started and expertise is gained, it is easy for a beekeeper to increase the number of hives. A dependence on outside resources or inputs is not necessary to do this. Bees feed themselves from the existing nectar and pollen resources of the area by foraging far beyond the small amount of land on which the hives are located.

Beekeeping is a family undertaking. Although working with bees is an activity that is easily done by women, in most cultural settings it is usually considered a man’s task. While men work directly with the bees, women are often involved in preparing the honey for market and in the

Beekeeping is an activity, which fits well with the philosophy of small-scale development. There is a great potential for developing beekeeping in many areas.

Beekeeping can:

• Supply an additional non-perishable food for rural people.
• Provide cash crops for rural people honey and wax.
• Be a means of gainful work when the farmer is not involved in planting staple crops.
• Create work for local craftsmen who make equipment.
• Increase the production of other crops such as peanuts, coffee, and citrus through better pollination. insect pollination is important for many cultivated plants.

Beekeeping is a family activity which has the following advantages over other types of agriculture:

• It needs a relatively small investment.
• It uses little land and the quality of the land is not important.
• It is a flexible activity for both sexes of any age.
• It can be carried on as a productive secondary activity with low-level technology, or as a primary undertaking with more complicated techniques.
• Beekeeping does not compete for resources with other types of agriculture - the nectar and pollen of plants are a true bonus.

All the inputs necessary for carrying out a beekeeping venture can be made locally. Smokers, protective clothing, veils, and hives can be made by local tinsmiths, tailors, carpenters, or basketmakers. Thus, a beekeeping project can create work and income for these people