Beekeeping

Beekeeping: Keeping and caring for Africa's Bees

African beekeeping is one of the most underutilized and underdeveloped industries in sub-Saharan Africa! In remote areas, slash and burn agriculture has become the norm. When local people realize the importance of beekeeping to their diet and economy, they will begin to have a totally different mindset about how to care for the environment they live in. As African nationals involved in agriculture realize that a large portion of their income can come from the forest trees in the form of nectar, they begin to respect the environment more. The fact that it takes 556 bees to visit 2,000,000 flowers so that they can produce 16 ounces of honey is remarkable. This fact gives “new value” to the forests of Tanzania when local people keep bees for their personal profit.

Since 2008 we have begun a training program for Africa’s beekeepers.

Since that time many training sites have been established, seminars taught and much preparation has gone into the future. We are grateful that on a district level the local government offices recommend people to come to us for training in apiculture (beekeeping). We also represent our Rukwa region at the yearly agricultural trade fairs with beehives of all sorts, protective clothing, smokers, wax, and honey.

This project has three goals:

To teach the local people about the benefits of beekeeping to impact their diets and income through bee products
To help their gardens through pollination of cash crops
To show the value of the forest in order to reduce its defoliation.

We are presently training six nationals in the techniques of keeping African bees for their personal benefit as well as for the preservation of the local environment. These men will form a team that will be dedicated to educating other Tanzanian men and women who seek to learn about the benefits of keeping bees in the tropics.

For step-by-step instructions on ecologically-friendly, sustainable, small-scale beekeeping, see Successful African Beekeeping

Protected village areas for beekeeping

The country of Tanzania in 2003 has set a policy enabling villages to allot a protected area strictly for beekeeping practices that would benefit the local population. These areas are to be protected by local village authorities. The village of Muze, located north of our station, set aside such a reserve in 2005. At present they have 18 people who have formed a beekeeping co-op. The leaders of the co-op came for training to our development center in Kapenta in May of 2010. During the training session men were instructed in God’s amazing creation of bees for pollination of all crops and orchards, and how our lives would be different without them.

The men who attended were given on-site practical training through the opening of hives and harvesting of honey. At the end of their training session they left with plans for making Kenya Top Bar hives as well as a quantity of wax purchased from us with the goal of using it to bait their new hives. They went back to their co-op to train those men and women to construct their own hives and get them in their new forest reserve. We will visit the co-op in 2011 and evaluate how they are moving forward in their desire to keep and care for African bees.

Langstroth, top bar, log hives

We are producing and providing hives of all sorts (langstroth, top bar, and log), the plans to build them, suits and protective clothing, as well as smokers and assorted beekeeping tools. Our goal as an organization is to impact the “whole man” by introducing technology and training that is both directed at the body and the soul. The Bible tells us that the greatest commands are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. We know that men and women were created both physical and spiritual in nature; we seek to inspire them through training in both of these areas.

Did You Know?

African bees cast up to 10-12 swarms a year.
African bees readily accept and occupy new baited hives of all sorts.
African bees are resistant to many diseases and mites that afflict their American and European counterparts.
African bees are more aggressive than American or European bees, specifically during high nectar flow.
African bees produce brood quickly creating a large work force, faster than other bees.
African bees are 2/3 the size of most American and European varieties.
Keeping bees is an excellent occupation to increase a farmer's income as it requires little cost and time.
Beekeeping is one of the most underutilized industries in sub-Saharan Africa!