By Umar Nsubuga
Professor Fredrick Tumwine works day and night to attend to his bees’ project in Kyabwanswa village, Kitagwenda district.
Two decades, Tumwine was one of those who used to fear bees. In 2008, his wife Jennifer Tumwine attended trainings on bee farming organised by Kamwenge Bee Keepers Cooperative Society (KABECOS).
Today, apiary, is the main sector at his home. “Apiculture is vital in the model farming, the bees are the best pollinators therefore increase production and productivity of coffee and other crops, are also important”, he says.
Tumwine says bee farming does not require a lot of land and the hive can produce many products such as pollen, propolis, royal jelly, bee wax and venom are highly demanded for their medicinal and food values.
Farmers should start Agro-forestry because it increases the nectar and pollen for the bees by reducing the distance covered by the bees in collecting the same raw materials for honey and other hive products.
Henry Sekyewa an agronomist says fruit trees increase production of fruits and other trees provide shade for the coffee while at the same time increasing forage for animals such goat and cattle.
The animals in turn supply the highly required organic manure from their urine and droppings thereby increasing yields of coffee and other crops.
Tumwine says bees are abundant in Uganda and with good training, provision of harvesting gears and the right conditions, a farmer is assured of good products such as honey, propolis, royal jelly and venom.
He says he encourages most of the bees’ farmers to conserve, preserve and diversify biodiversity by planting a variety of plant species so as to produce unique flavors of honey.
Tumwine has not just improved the quality and production of honey, in the community but has moved a step further to support and mobilise of beekeepers into producer groups, and has enabled them to harvest both high quality honey, and realise the benefits of byproducts including beeswax and propolis.
It is advisable to set your apiary in a well-drained, less disturbed place far from noise or human activities. Keep off areas frequently sprayed with chemical pesticides to reduce bee poisoning and honey contamination.
Bees good for coffee
Tumwine says, he has also encouraged coffee farmers to go for bees because Coffee-growing regions are good sites for honey bees. This is because in most coffee growing regions of Uganda have two long flowering seasons.
According to Tumwine, plant diversity within the coffee growing areas offer excellent floral resources for honeybees.
He says Coffee flowers produce sugary, high-quality nectar, and bees improve coffee berry ripening, size and uniformity with their cross-pollination. “Bees do not require land ownership, can be maintained by family members, and the many products from bee colonies serve as the local pharmacy.
Bees don’t require a large investment of time or finances. Products can be sold locally or internationally. The problem in Uganda is lack of sustainable large production of honey”, he says.
What it takes to start
A top range beehive, in most cases the top bar hive or the Kenya top bar hive, goes for about sh130,000. But Tumwine says for starters, especially the youth, women and the elderly, can make their own hives using locally readily available materials. One can comfortably begin with ten hives and continue increasing the number as his/her management skills improve.
According to Tumwine, these may include old tree trunks. and banana fibres or papyrus to create basket hives. Other bee hives that can be made using readily available materials include the grass hive, gourd hive and log hive. A hive made using tree logs is called a log hive.
To make a log hive, Tumwine says cut the log to a length of about four feet and scoop out the inside. Both sides of the log are sealed to leave small openings through which the bees can enter. When it comes to harvest time, the log is simply split open and the honey combs removed.
If you want to use the same logs again, combine two hollow logs and at the time of harvest, separate the two logs, remove the honey combs and then stitch them back for the next harvest. Although many of these improvised hives do not last as the top bars, they can sufficiently honey.
Bear in mind you probably won’t harvest honey in the first year as your bee colony needs time to get established before they produce excess honey. The amount of honey a hive produces varies from year to year. Sometimes it’s affected by the weather and management practices.
Harvesting quality honey
“A farmer who is just starting must know that by the 8th month of setting up the hives and colonisation their honey to harvest in the hives. However, it is advisable that a farmer takes at least 12 months before the first harvest”, he advised.
He says this helps the honey to completely mature. There after the first harvest, you need to follow the flowering period of crops and trees in your area. He adds, that bees stock a lot of honey during the flowering period which means that you need to harvest soon after the flowering period.
Good flowering plants
Bees process honey from nectar. The sources of natural nectar are mainly flowers. This is, therefore, why it is important to have flowering plants near the apiary. These can be coffee, mangoes, maize, bananas, calliandra, eucalyptus and avocado among others.
Kandi Magaderena a resident also a bees farmer says since she got knowledge from Prof. Tumwine, she has succeeded. “For example, he advised me to have shade over the hives, because bees do not like direct sunshine. This is why I had to select a site that has trees to create a shade”, she recalls.
Andrew Kasaija also a resident said he didn’t know that the site had to be at least 100 metres away from the homestead and a public road or footpath. I learnt that this is a precaution against attacks from the bees. The nearer the hives are to a homestead, the easier it is for the bees to be disrupted into attacking people.
Product sale
The 10-20 hives each can produce at least 10-20kg of pure honey in a year, which translates into 100-200kg per year.
At sh10,000 per kilogramme at farm gate price, this translates into sh1-2m from the 10 hives. In fact, you can get back the total investment after just one year, yet input in form of labour is low.
Bees multiply and create new ones often. A hive can last for as many as 10 years, as long as it is well-maintained.
Fighting pests
One of the best methods of fighting pests is keeping the apiary clean. Keep the trees for the shade well- trimmed. Do not let grass over grow. Tree leaves that drop down should be removed regularly.
Carry out regular checks on the hives to lookout for infiltration by insects. If a hive is infected by other elements for example, bettles or termites, it requires decolonization and cleaning.
