Beekeeping tips from Farm Clinic

NARO’s Ambrose Agona (2ndR) samples honey products. Photo by Denis Bbosa

What you need to know:

  • If given more attention, apiary production in Bunyoro promises to become one of the best money minting agribusiness ventures. Denis Bbosa was at Bulindi Zonal Agricultural Research Development Institute (Bulindi - ZARDI) in Hoima as Lydia Kabasomi, apiculture technician at the institute, elucidated on the modern ways of beekeeping.
  • Remove the frames containing the combs and return them to the bee hives. Pour the honey in the settling tank and it is ready for packing in food grade containers and brand. At this point, honey is ready for sale.

Honey is a sweet product mostly made from flower nectar combined with an enzyme secreted by honey bees, then concentrated by reducing moisture in the honeycomb cells.
It is harvested from bee hives once bee keepers see that after the honeycomb cells have been sealed by the bees.

Packed honey, propolis, bee venom, lip balms, bee wax and bee candles were among the various agricultural technologies that were showcased to participants during the 10th Daily Monitor Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic held last week at Bulindi – ZARDI in Hoima District.
NARO roots for bee value added products in boosting household incomes and with a litre of quality processed and well branded honey fetching Shs22,000, it tells it all why farmers must give apiary a try.

What does it take to produce high quality honey?
According to Lydia Kabasomi, an apiculture technician at Bulindi – ZARDI, a bee farmer should use modern equipment during harvesting, processing and packaging in order to produce high quality honey which competes favourably and thus command better prices in the market.

Instruments for better honey production
• Bee suit: It must be put on to avoid being stung by bees.
• Air tight buckets: Prevents honey from absorbing moisture which may lead to adulteration.
• Hive tool: Helps to open the hive cover and the top bars without over shaking the hive. The sharp edge is also used as a knife for cutting off combs.
• Smoker: Minimises aggressiveness of bees, allows smooth harvesting of honey.
• Gumboots: Protect legs from bee stings.
• Leather gloves: Protects the hands against bee stings, wear gloves that cover up to the sleeves.

Maintaining honey quality
• Use little smoke to avoid altering the scent of honey.
• Harvest only sealed honey combs as they contain ripe/pure honey.
• Sort the combs by separating white combs from dark combs.
• Cover honey during storage to avoid contamination which may compromise its quality.

Adding value to honey
More value can still be added to processed honey by spicing with Rosemary plant (Rosmarinus officinalis) or mixing with bee venom to make a lotion.
A gramme of bee venom costs about Shs50,000 while a litre of honey is about Shs22,000.
Kabasomi advises farmers to process bees’ wax from empty combs which remain after honey extraction. This is done by soaking the empty combs in water for at least two days before it is boiled and strained.

Value is added to this product by making insect repellant wax candles with citronella (Cymbopogon nardus).
An insect repellant candle costs about Shs1,500. In addition, bee waxes are also used to make lips balms. Each candle costs about Shs5,000 and has high demand in the market. She encourages more farmers to venture into bee keeping because it is highly profitable and also less vulnerable to weather variations.

Methods of processing honey
Kabasomi says the techniques for harvesting honey depend on the type of bee hives in the apiary.
For local and top bar bee hives where harvesting involves cutting the combs, floatation method is recommended.
It involves tying the strainer on top of the bucket, uncapping the cells in the combs and placing the combs on top of the strainer to allow the honey to drip.

Thereafter, honey is transferred to the settling tank and at this point, it is ready for packaging.
In contrast, for frame hives such as Langstroth where harvesting involves removal of frames, honey extractors are used.
Under this method, you uncap the combs, then place the frames in the honey extractor and rotate to extract the liquid honey.
Remove the frames containing the combs and return them to the bee hives. Pour the honey in the settling tank and it is ready for packing in food grade containers and brand. At this point, honey is ready for sale.