(TIMES) Bee farming takes root in Copperbelt rural

Bee farming takes root in Copperbelt rural
...as Bee Sweet Scheme set to distribute 3,000 hives
By GETHSEMANE MWIZABI

“BEE farming is a good source of income. It has helped me buy fertiliser,” says Getrude Toto, of Mandala Village in Mpongwe District.

Mrs Toto started bee farming last year in December and so far she has had one harvest and is excitedly looking forward to the next season so that she gets more money to support her four school-going children.

Many villagers are beginning to appreciate bee farming as a socio-economic activity and this is so real in Copperbelt rural where more than 600 bee farmers have been empowered with free beehives and swarm-boxes under a beekeeping scheme called Bee Sweet.

The scheme covers four rural districts namely Luanshya, Masaiti, Mpongwe and Ndola and the purpose is to empower small-scale farmers in rural areas so that they can raise their socio-economic status.

“I am happy, I don’t have to work so hard to make money,” said Mrs Toto who is a proud owner of three beehives and several swarm-boxes.
Her responsibility is to clean up the area where the hives are placed once in a while.

Honey is harvested two times a year. The more beehives a farmer has, the more the honey and the more income.

After farmers harvest the honey, they sell it per kilogramme to the Bee Sweet scheme.

Workers from the scheme go round villages buying honey produced from the beehives they provided to villagers.

Historically, bark hiving is the traditional technique that has been used to harvest honey in Zambia. The villagers harvest the honey in trees that the bees have naturally formed into hives.

The trees are usually destroyed in the process.
This has proved unsustainable for the forests and results in inconsistent harvests for the villagers.

The scheme has however introduced the environmental friendly, beehives that have a life span of more than 20 years. They are made of timber and are a first of their kind in Zambia.

“It depends on how you use them. You don’t have to cut trees all the time to have honey. We are cautious about climate change,’’ said Bee Sweet project coordinator Horst Wendorf.

Mr Wendorf is an expert in bee farming who has worked in several countries training villagers.

Bee farming has a great future in Zambia due to the great potential in the Miombo woodlands. It protects the woodlands because the beekeepers and the bees rely on the trees (where the nectar is coming from) and would protect them from being chopped down.

The demand for natural honey without contamination by pesticides or other chemicals is ever increasing worldwide while the bees in developed countries are steadily decreasing and disappearing because of environmental problems and new occurring diseases and symptoms like CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder).

In Zambia at present, there are feral (untamed) bee swarms roaming in the Miombo woodlands in their natural habitat.

“I believe there are enough bees around to produce tonnes of honey,” Mr Wendorf said.

However, queen rearing and queen breeding techniques which are common and practiced in all developed countries would be options for the future to further enhance genetic material and expansion of honey production.

As for the rural farmers on the Copperbelt, they would soon realise an income for themselves.

With new ways of bee farming being introduced, villagers are being discouraged to use bark hives, which contribute to deforestation.

Through a grant from the German government that was given to the project recently, the process of creating a substantial honey business is under way.

“We are targeting the European Union (EU) and American market,” he said.
The grant has funded the creation and building of 3,000 state of the art swarm boxes and hives. These hives are being constructed in the woodworking factory at Kafakumba.

This has provided dozens of jobs necessary to build these hives and swarm boxes. The hives are being distributed to families in the most outlying parts of the country.

Some of the families are suffering from extreme poverty hence the bee farming scheme could improve their socio-economic status.

Apart from providing villagers with bee hive and swam boxes, the villagers are also trained on how to manage and harvest honey.

It goes without saying the business is sustainable and provides a solid economic reason for the villagers to preserve the natural forests.

“I am happy I am able to have money through this project. It’s a decent business venture,” said Luckson Phiri, a father of eight children and four grandchildren.

He is among the beneficiaries with five beehives and several swarm boxes spread around his land.

Last November, he harvested 20kg of honey and he hopes to double the kilograms in the next harvesting season.

“I need more bee hives to generate more income. There is so much I can do and realise out of this business,” Mr Phiri of Luanguni Village in Mpongwe.

Beekeeping is an ideal small-scale income generating activity, as there is a ready market for honey, wax and other bee products both locally and abroad.

It is a sustainable activity as it requires little cost inputs and little space. It can be practised on small farms, as bees do not compete with livestock for space or food.

Unlike agriculture, beekeeping does not require good soil. It can be practicsd on poor soils and in remote areas.

Further, it has positive ecological consequences, as bees play a vital role in pollination of many flowering plants and crops, thus increasing the yield of major food crops such as beans, melons, sunflower and various fruits.

Swarm boxes are needed for catching swarms. They are usually suspended in the trees at a height between 3-5 metres and baited inside with bees wax. Bees would then occupy the box at a time, particularly during the swarming period and in the rainy season. After the bees have started drawing out combs and the queen has started laying eggs, the swarm-box would be transferred together with bees into the new hive.

So far, more than 1,000 beehives have been distributed to small-scale farmers across the Copperbelt region.

“We work with village beekeepers in the tropics to increase their income and small- scale producers,” said BeeKeeping Coordinator Edwin Lunda.

After the honey is collected from farmers, it is then refined at Kafakumba in the Baluba area of Ndola where it is processed and packaged in readiness for the market.
Ultimately, many villagers in Copperbelt rural are realising the value of bee farming.

The Bee Sweet scheme is adding value to the lives of villagers most of whom have had socio-economic struggles.
With this robust project on course, things are changing for the better.