Bees,the little insects that can put lots of cash in your pocket

Apiculture is a livestock subsector with a huge untapped potential to contribute to Kenya’s rural household income and foreign earnings.

It is an uncomplicated venture, relatively cheap to start and enhances the environment through the pollinating activity of bees.

Apiculture is ideal for small-scale and resource-poor farmers owing to the fact that it is completely sustainable, generates lots of income and requires less inputs — land, labour and capital.

However, traditional beekeeping in Kenya has not been much to write home about because of the low volumes of honey produced and income generated.

This is largely due to beekeepers’ ignorance, poor harvesting techniques and use of ‘old school’ type hives.

Lack of knowledge and outlets that buy honey exposes beekeepers to exploitation by unscrupulous middlemen and many end up selling their harvest to producers of local liquor for a song.

TRADITIONAL METHODS
Most beekeepers still use traditional methods where log hives are precariously perched on trees. Harvesting, usually done at night, is a delicate balancing act between avoiding plunging to the ground while being stung repeatedly.

The few who use modern harvesting methods often do so without bee suits and smokers.

Most beekeepers lack basic skills on bee management, honey harvesting, processing and handling. Many still have no access to extension services and have little training, despite the efforts of government institutions and private organisations.

There is also little knowledge of the value of bee products other than honey.

BEE SPECIES

Bees in Kenya belong to the species Apis mellifera. Within this species, are a number of races distributed globally and four of them are found in Kenya.

Apis mellifera scutellata — A small and highly aggressive bee with a great tendency to reproduce (swarm) and abscond (migrate). Found in the plains and lowlands areas such as Baringo.
Apis mellifera monticola — A large, dark and gentle race (though less productive) with a tendency to reduce brood rearing at the first sign of forage decline and may not migrate. It is found in highland like Meru and Mt Elgon.
Apis mellifera yemenitica (formally, Apis mellifera nubica) — The smallest with most slender abdomen and the largest yellow abdominal colour band of all African races. It withstands and survives drought by excessive migration. Found mostly in the northern parts of Kenya.
Apis mellifera littorea — Inhabits coastal lowlands and has a tendency to rear brood throughout the year without migrating due to availability of forage along the coast.

Bees forage on floral nectar and pollen to produce honey, beeswax, propolis (used in medicines) and other products such as royal jelly, pollen, bee venom and bee brood.

Note that honey is not bee vomit or faecal matter, rather it is nectar processed by addition of enzymes to break down sugars and removal of some moisture to concentrate it (ripen).

FANNING BIODIVERSITY
Bees help the pollination of flowers to maintain biodiversity and increase the quantity and quality of crops such as coffee, pawpaw, banana, avocado, macadamia, and mangoes.

Bees don’t compete with livestock for food. Instead they fly up to five kilometres from the hive to collect nectar; so you benefit from other people’s flowers.

Albert Einstein is famously quoted saying “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left.

No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

TYPES OF BEE HIVES
Traditional Hive: There are several types all made from cheap and locally available materials such as logs, pots and baskets. However, bee management and honey harvesting is difficult in such hives and usually the quality and quantity of honey is compromised.

During harvesting, combs — including brood combs — are cut off, destroying a generation of bees within a hive’s colony. Such colonies end up spending most of their time and energy (honey) rebuilding combs and replacing brood, thus remaining at a redevelopment phase at the expense of honey production.

Kenya Top Bar Hive: This hive resembles a wedge box with wooden bars of specific measurements at the wide top part and a roof above the bars. Bee management is possible with this hive, making it easier to harvest and manipulate colonies for more honey production compared to traditional hives.

However, combs in the top bar hive are not supported and can break if not handled carefully. Since wax is harvested with honey, the bees are forced to build more wax to replace harvested combs, which results in lower honey yields albeit with more harvested wax.

In addition, the volume, like in the traditional hive, is fixed, so the hive can fill and get congested very quickly in the honey flow season. An overcrowded hive can divide and swarm, leading to reduced honey production.

Langstroth Hive (Frame Hive): Box shaped with several compartments and frames that make the combs very strong. A mesh (queen excluder) is placed above the lowermost compartment known as the brood chamber allowing only the worker bees (non-laying) to move through.

Since entry to the hive is located at the base of the brood chamber, the queen cannot lay eggs in the compartments above the brood chamber (known as super chambers) thus combs in these chambers will contain honey only.

The honey is extracted by centrifuge, returning the combs relatively intact to the bees to shorten harvesting intervals and potentially increase yield. Combined with the fact that honey is separated completely from the brood, this extraction method ensures high quality honey.

By adding more supers, additional space can be created in the hive, which is important during honey flow period.

Frame hives are more expensive (between Sh3,500 and Sh8,000) and require a greater level of investment as well as more beekeeping skills.

APIARIES MANAGEMENT TIPS
Apiaries should be away from humans and livestock, swamps, roads, and public areas. They should be sheltered from direct sunshine and accessible to water and bee forage plants.

Limitation: Have a maximum of between 20-25 hives per apiaryand adjacent apiaries should be located not less than three kilometres apart.

Clean environment: Keep the apiary environment clean by cutting grass short and trimming branches that reach hives to prevent pests such as ants crawling into hives.

Grease wires and poles holding hives: Or construct fixed metal stands joined to steel mesh cages that lock in hives for security against honey badgers and thieves.

Use modern hives for ease of management, pest control, hive longevity and increased honey production

Supplement bees’ source of nectar by cultivating certain plant species around the apiary e.g dombeya, acacia, banana, citrus, eucalyptus (blue gum), croton, jacaranda, kei apple, sunflower, vetch, calliandra, bottlebrush, pawpaw, passion fruits and coffee.

Avoid spilling honey near the apiary. It will attract pests and cause bees to fight with others from adjacent hives.

When bees are making honey, inspect hives once a week by opening them up so you ensure bees have enough space to store honey. With the Kenya Top Bar Hive, remove honeycombs to make space; with the Langstroth, add an extra super. At other times, inspect hives once a month.

BEE FORAGING
One can obtain information by just observing foraging bees for a few minutes. You can tell if the bees collecting pollen — an indicator that bees are feeding the young. It also shows they are healthy and have a laying queen.

Provide a permanent source of water near the apiary as lack of water can contribute to absconding in the dry season.

Only harvest sealed (capped) honey since unsealed honey is still in the process of manufacture. Once harvested, no additives (sugar, flour, water etc) should be put into the honey.

PRECAUTIONS TO AVOID GETTING STUNG

Always wear a bee suit properly: Many people do not do this and get stung when hives are opened.

Avoid wearing chequered or woollen clothes near hives as they agitate bees: You are advised to wear bright plain clothes if your don’t have a bee suit.

Avoid drinking alcohol and using strongly scented soaps or sprays: all of which may stoke defensive behaviour.

Always use a smoker when handling bees: Since it calms them down and masks alarm pheromones (smells) that bees use for communication.

Smoke also elicits a salvage instinct that makes bees consume lots honey from the combs, rendering their abdomens too full to bend and sting. It is always better to have two smokers alight in case one goes out.

Always handle bees when the temperatures are not too high: Preferably in the evening between 5 and 6.30.

Avoid crushing bees or making sudden movements: If bees get into your veil, remain calm and walk to a safe distance preferably via bushes or plantations before removing your veil and rectifying the fault.

Remember that a bee that has stung you cannot sting again as it dies immediately.

In the event that one is stung without a bee suit on, move away quietly while covering the eyes. Running about waving arms only annoys the bees more.

Remove stings from skin as soon as possible using a hive tool or your finger nail. Trying to pull it out squeezes in more venom.

Use smoke to cover the scent of a sting. The scent attracts other bees to sting you again.