BY: Jael Ojwaya

                         Beekeeping is fun. Bee stings but honey is sweet.  Welcome... Let us go honey hunting.

Beekeeping refers to the art of keeping bees either for pleasure or commercial purposes.  Sounds rather silly but this is what draws the distinction between beekeeping as a hobby or for commercial purposes.  My interest is on commercial beekeeping as means to sustainable development.  Hence sustainable beekeeping seeks to address the importance of beekeeping in terms of its ecological, social and economic benefits. Within ecological dimensions, bees are a source of pollinators that help increase crop yields. The economic benefits lie within bee products such as honey, royal jelly, propolis, bee pollen and beeswax that are highly valuable and have high market prices.  But most importantly on honey as a source of food with high nutrition value.  In communities where beekeeping is done for commercial purposes, it has led to self reliance through the innovation of local industries associated with the production of beekeeping equipment and bee products.

Beekeeping Methods
Broadly speaking, beekeeping methods can be divided into two categories; mainly traditional and modern methods. The former is mainly practiced in societies in which beekeeping is done in small scale and in most cases done as a hobby. Although this definition may not capture who traditional beekeepers are in real life situation, one distinction between these two groups is on the equipment used. For complete information on traditional and modern beekeeping equipment click here.

Importance of beekeeping
Whenever I disclose to some of my friends that my research interest is on beekeeping and honey production, I can tell from the look on their faces that this is the most crazy option that I have ever chosen in life.  Some questions that I have been asked include what the hell I intend to do with bees (of course not the honey), bees are dangerous, where will you get a job in future as a beekeeper and so on. This reaction is not unusual, as beekeeping has been a marginalized activity within most developing countries. The benefits associated with beekeeping still remain a huge mystery for many whom have not ventured into the field.  The importance of beekeeping in grassroots socio-economic development is one option that is available for developing countries as a means to meet the local needs of their people yet this area has not been exploited.  This paper points out strategies and methods of beekeeping that traditional beekeepers in Africa and other developing countries need to adopt in order to improve the quality of beekeeping and honey production.  Some experiences in modern beekeeping in the developed countries are referred to. We all learn from past experiences!!!!!!      And you?  Click here.

Need for beekeeping in Africa.

Due to economic marginalization, and frequent failure of past development interventions, the need for local communities in rural Africa to secure economic survival have encouraged a focus on Indigenous Knowledge (IK) and self-reliance strategies.  Where IK and local self-reliance strategies exist and, in instances, where they have been supported by external agencies, such as WIPO, WTO, FAO, UNCED to name but a few, these often constitute the only means of survival for local communities. Governments and International Organizations have recently seen the need for reviving local self-reliance and restructuring regional development on more indigenous and self-reliant lines. Beekeeping is an ideal method towards achieving such goals.  It is an ecologically and technically appropriate form of income generation for communities in most economically and environmentally poor areas of Africa. Its role in promoting economic self-reliance and the need to enhance this role were identified in the Banjul Bee Declaration of 1991 (Bees for Development 1991).

Beekeeping and self reliance

Although beekeeping can only rarely become the sole source of income and livelihood for people in the Third World, its role as a source of supplementary earnings, food, and employment should not be underestimated. Key points in the argument that beekeeping is a key element in promoting rural self-reliance are that:
Beekeeping promotes rural diversification and hence is an alternative source of income and employment, particularly in areas where arable land is restricted and demographic growth is resulting in insufficiently profitable land holdings.
Beekeeping is an activity that can successfully be adopted by women in many parts of the continent.
Beekeeping allows for a degree of risk avoidance by providing a reliable, high value product that enables rural farmers to survive in times of economic crisis.
Beekeeping is a low cost, sustainable undertaking with a low environmental impact.

For more information on Honey bees and beekeeping CLICK ON the links below.
 
 
 

For more information and comments on this web page send e-mail to jao23@cornell.edu