Toni's visit

Profitable honey beekeeping-

WBA was delighted to receive Toni Downs in August 2015, when same came with donations from friends and beekeepers who wished to promote our beekeeping practice. We take this opportunity to thank once again everyone who participated in the fundraising campaign which gave us equipments like smokers, veils, candle molds, books, video CDs and many others items.
Toni came to our association at a time when we really needed help in equipment and practical skills and knowledge as well as motivation.
Toni is a beekeeper in the Caribbean and she gave us a lot of advise, guidance and solutions to some of our challenges. She also helped us on value addition to avoid vendors from buying our honey at a cheap price. She gave us ideas on how to identify markets for our products so we can keep more profit.
Toni opened our hives and experienced the behaviors of our bees, and she experienced how we keep bees in various types of beehives like log hives, Kenyan top bar hives and frame hives.
She visited different apiaries from various communities in various floral environments. Toni identified some challenges which we didn’t realize directly such as limited nectar sources and some flowering plants in our community produce less nectar and some produce more pollen.

We visited Mr. Ochuli who last year planted 2 acres of sesame (simsim) with a target of providing adequate nectar to his bees but to his surprise, his hives became more strong with bees and produced many swarms where he ended up with 15 hives in his apiary getting colonized. Therefore sesame helped to provide pollen to bees rather than nectar as was expected.  We discussed this and Toni suggested  Mr. Ochuli to plant simsim as an early crop for pollen and bee growth and then sunflower to follow so that there will be lots of bees from the simsim to collect the nectar and make honey from the sunflower crop.

Toni found the following:
• Members sell honey in combs to vendors at $1.1 per kilogram
• Honey production went down since flowers are limited due to deforestation (charcoal burning)
• Poor marketing skills for our products
• People cut down trees for burning charcoal as their source of income (economic activity)
• Log hives are more productive than moveable comb hives (top bars and frame hives).
• Members don’t process their honey
• Bees are not occupying new hives (swarms) as in prior years.
She restored hope in members who were losing hope in beekeeping! Along with Madame Nora, she demonstrated with members how to make products from beeswax and honey such as soap, lotion and candles. Members also learned how to dip wicks into hot wax to make candles. This excited many people, especially men, who realized that they can easily make candles for use in their houses when they run out of kerosene at late hours and can’t go to stores for more.
Well, she found African bees are not killer bees like most statements say and most beekeepers from WBA work bees during time with ease.

More news about her visit to WBA and Uganda will be available from her soon please keep checking the site.

For now we are communicating with Toni to come up with a simple piece of equipment that we can build and use it to squeeze honey out of our combs while maintaining hygiene as a group/club.
This would help us get a better price and allow us to skip vendors who use excuses such as; honey was poorly processed to persuade beekeepers into selling honey to them at a very cheap price.
See some of the activities in photos below (more photos are available in our facebook group: blessed honeybeekeepers Uganda

Toni transfering bees from a damaged hive into a new hive while unprotected children watching

Toni showing a comb built on a bar

Norah and Toni during the candle making class

Members dipping wicks into hot wax to make candles

Candles

In soap making class: Norah and Toni

Pouring the solution into molds (soap making)

Pouring the lotion into cans during the lotion making class

Some members posses for a photo after recieving smokers and jackets

Toni and other members inspecting a bee hive

What are Stingless bees?

This block of soil has stingless bees inside.
It was dug from a termite hive

Stingless bees which belong to Meliponula Ferruginea are small insects which are brown in color. They commonly live in termite hills which have termites (for safety).

When they enter the termite hill, they usually nest in the brooding area of the termites and they keep expanding their nest upto a size of a rugby ball and I will call this a nest pot (since it resembles a pot shape).  The nest is usually located 1 to 1.5metres deep (also depends on the size of the termite hill).

When the nest grows big (colony size), usually the bees go deeper and begin a new nest where a princess (new queen) move and start laying eggs to start complete colony. Commonly, we find 2 colonies connected to the mother colony (first colony).

Showing the entrances for the separate hives 

we found in the termite hill. 

Can you see the two standing pipes like straws

All the three colonies use only one entrance (main entrance). We found more than one independent colonies in one termite hill with separate entrances and the nests never connect (And they are the very one I am writing the post on and all the photos used here).

Characteristics of the bees

These bees are stingless; they don’t sting. They are shy. 

They rarely abscond.

Organisation of the hive

Showing a honey pot

They build soft resin/gum (cerumen) pots where they store honey and pollen. The size of one pot is like a peanut/ groundnut. The brood combs are like normal bee combs though they are smaller in size. They are located in the centre of the nest and they are covered in honey and pollen pots. Brood combs are horizontally aligned and they are attached by thin resin/gum (pillars) to each other.

Pots for honey, pollen are also attached to each other by thin gum.

Showing inside the nest;
honey and pollen pots on outside,
brood are circular and
the queen cells are in the centre. 

The brood combs are cylindrical in shape and provide a big space in the centre where queen eggs are laid and raised. Also the centre acts as the main highway or passage to connect to various sections in the nest (including the tertiary nests).

Note: Stingless bees build nest according to colony size. Therefore they keep expanding until it reaches a maximum width and length of a rugby ball.

The honey has a higher moisture content (thin) compared to normal honey from apis melifera.

A Queen on a brood comb

The queen has a light brownish stomach and she can’t fly. The bees don’t gather around her like normal bees do. And since these bees are shy, they don’t eat their honey while you are working them even when it spills. They don’t fly away even when the nest is torn into pieces; they just crawl around. I have this photo where the chickens were eat them as they where crawling on the ground!

Above all, stingless bees are very easy to domestic compared to apis melifera because, they don’t easily abscond, they require small boxes and they don’t sting (safe for the community).

But they are low honey producers! The wax is brown in color and soft and somehow sticky.

More photos are available on request or in our facebook group (blessed honeybee centre Uganda)

Meliponula Ferruginea

Stingless Bees

Stingless bees can be found in most tropical or subtropical regions of the world, such as

Australia, Africa, Southeast Asia , and tropical America.

The type we are talking about here is called Meliponula Ferruginea.

Digging stingless bees from the termite hill. 

Here in Uganda, stingless bees especially the type which I am currently domesticating is not found in most parts of the country, actually it is not present in Nakasongola but very popular in Mukono!

On 03rd October 2015, I posted about our experience with stingless bees where I shortly wrote about them. They are about 8mm or more in body length.

Stingless bees are facing challenges

This block of soil has stingless bees inside.
It was dug from a termite hive

Stingless bees are likely to meet their extinct in the next 5 decades because their nests are destroyed so much because every time the honey hunters find them.

They dig apart the termite hill and usually the termites abscond from the hill or die and the bees die too. Here are photos during our transfer of stingless bees into a hive.

These chickens are eating the bees crawling on the ground

We transferred two hives yet we found three hives in one termite hill. The last hive was destroyed by the team which I worked with to eat honey. All bees that were crawling around helplessly were eaten by a hen and a cock (see in the photo). The nest was destroyed. This has been the practice until I chose to domestic them. My hive design has both a brood and honey chamber.

Sam and Isaac installing the hive up in he branches of a tree

Many community members especially farmers are poisoning termite hills which render them poisonous to bees too; poison kills bees and bees cannot nest in poisoned hills.

Urbanization is also a big challenge to bees where nectar sources and nests are cleared.

We are now looking forward at sensitizing the communities about the importance of bees in our crop production which include pollination and honey production.

I am happy to tell you that the bees got used with ease and they are happy to live in my boxes. They made repairs to damages caused on their pots and brood during transfer.

I will get back after my first harvest and the hives have become strong and productive.

The nest is broken into small pieces to access honey.
Some honey pots are put in the bowl while the brood is left on the ground (close to the bowl)

Honey Hunter's bird

Honey Hunter's Bird

Honey hunting is a history in Wampiti and neighboring communities. But before it became a history, honey hunting was practiced in March massively by a group of youth and adults.

Honey hunting was carried out as a side activity by wild animal hunters or by honey lovers who would go into the jungle specifically looking for wild bees.

Of course honey hunting stopped because there limited forests left and many people keep bees today.

A match box was something shouldn't be left behind and an axe, a hoe and a panga (Machete).

A match box for starting fire

Axe/ machete for clearing and cutting the tree down and open the hive

Hoe for digging the termite hill in case bees are found in the termite hill.

Surprise! Just after 10 minutes of walking in the jungle, there appears a bird (Nyamalyayi is the name in the local language).

This bird is wonderful, it comes and sit on a branch of a tree close to the honey hunters and it starts whistling to honey hunters. Immediately when the honey hunters hear the bird, they also (usually one) start whistling back while the bird flies from one tree to the next tree in a distance of about 50-100metres. The honey hunters will keep following until the bird lands on a branch of a tree where bees are or on a termite hill where bees are.

Thank you, thank you says the honey hunters and then they begin to make fire near the tree and there after they begin cutting to fall it down. When it falls down, now the warriors (guys who don't fear bees) come and start opening/ cutting the hive area to open it and access the combs. The rest are adding green leaves to fire to make it produce a lot of smoke.

The most dangerous act was; if they couldn't find honey, they would put pieces of firewood into the nest and set it on fire. And the whole hive and branch burn into ashes.

The honey hunting would sometimes go up to midnight especially when there is moon light at night. But the bird never work at night. During the night hours, the honey hunters would go to hives which one found or knows about. During honey hunting seasons, a lot of swarms would be seen hunging on branches of trees.

Myth.

The birds which helped honey hunters are believed to be a honey/ brood eating bird. Therefore since they couldn't break open the hives, they instead help honey hunters to locate the bees with high hopes that when the honey hunters open the hive, they will keep some honey for them.

But it was believed that when you don't leave anything (honey or brood) for the bird, next time the bird would direct you to snake. Therefore if they are careful, the snake might bite them.

From my experience, sometimes the bird would be precise and sometimes we couldn't see the bees!

Well these birds are becoming less and less in Nakasongola and I wish you would come and enjoy the honey hunting experience with help of the birds. Please come before the birds are extinct.

See you there.

Keep buzzing the bees.

Stingless Bees

Beekeepers, we have an active type of bees which pollinate flowers, collect nectar and produce honey like apis mellifera do.

Body Size and Nest

The entrance (look in the centre of this photo)

A normal size of apis melipona is just 1/4 of a normal apis mellifera.
Blackish in color with small white strips.

They live in termite hills or mounds and use only one opening for entry and exit. The entrance can take them more  than 1.5 metres deep to reach the first hive. Usually they build up to 3 nests in one termite hill with only one entrance. The entrance connects to the first hive and then they build another small pipe like passage which connects to the second hive and the third.

Digging a termite hill (with termites present)

Do they sting? 
The bees are stingless bees shy and get scared very fast.

Honey and pollen pots

Experience
when we opened the nest for stingless bees, we saw the following:
1. Honey in brownish pots. The size of one pot is equivalent to 4 cells of honey combs.

2. Pollen in brownish pots too. The size of one cell is equivalent to 4 cells of honey combs. The pots are made from soft propolis substance.

Brood combs

3. Brood chamber has comb cells which are small but packed like normal comb cells.

4. Found the helpless queen which couldn't fly at all since it had a big belly.

Queen (with a Gold stomach)

Inside Hive
The brood is in the centre of the nest surrounded by honey and pollen pots. The color of brood combs is different from the honey and pollen pots. (see the last photo at the bottom of this post)

Honey taste
We tasted the honey and it almost had the same properties of apis melifera honey.

Way forward
We are going to keep them since they are also getting less and less because to access their honey people must destroy the nests first! And pesticide is also killing them. Finding poison free termite hills is also a challenge since of the termite hills are poisoned to kill the termites.

Inside the nest

Honey

Honey scent in an apiary

I smell Honey!

Just imagine while moving around your apiary and smell honey fumes!

One time I was invited to inspect beehives in a private farm located in Mukono District with over 30 beehives. 

The owner of the farm told me that he has high hopes for harvesting a lot of honey from his bee hives because he smells honey whenever goes close to the bee yard.

Imagine honey was smelling so much that I also smelt it several metres away before reaching the entrance of the apiary.

I was amazed by the words from the farm owner though In the back of my mind i know that when bees are fanning to regulation the hive temperature (and moisture content) there are high hopes of uncapped honey scent to escape.

Also it is possible for uncapped honey to smell than capped honey.

Therefore the implication of the smell is; there is presence of uncapped honey or nectar than honey ready for harvesting.

Finally I opened the first hive and there was only two Combs with uncapped honey. The second hive also had honey on the brood combs and one bar with uncapped honey.

We went to the third and the four until the 30th hive and to surprise you, we never came back with a single comb of honey.

I never told him in the beginning that his bees just have uncapped honey and since they are many in one place, the honey scent becomes strong in the area.

When we got back to his office, I explained to him why he smelt honey in his apiary.

Honey hunters have a myth like when there is honey in the hive, you smell it, well they are right because they find there honey though not ripe honey (capped honey).

Enjoy a spoon of honey everyday.

Why African bees are not killer bees?

What a surprise?

(Experts put on protective suites while the novice are not)

Half way around the world believes that bees from and in Africa are "killer bees" a term used to describe African bees.

Well since we started going in the bee yards during day time, our bees are becoming more friendly everyday.

We will never call them killer bees though they sting.

Toni was surprised when David's sons were watching Toni, Isaac and David moving bees from a damaged hive into a new hive. We would shake the bees into a new hive without problem.

On many occasions I have worked bees with less protection and this is achieved by applying more smoke.

We commonly use maize cobs as fuel and assorted pieces of wood which don't produce odour that can easily stain the honey or irritate the bees which can easily lead to absconding.
We stopped using cow dung because it would stain honey with a bad odour and also the body and clothes.

Since smoke interferes with the smelling senses of the bees, children who are watching must smoke themselves every after a couple of minutes and this sometimes enable them to get fully involved in the operations.

Confidence is very important while working bees because when you are nervous, the body temperature rises (and produce sweat) and adrenalin is produced which enables bees to detect the you.

The way how you handle the bees is the way how they respond back; when you handle them gently and slowly yes they will not attack you badly.

African bees are killer bees if you don't play your cards well!

Alternatives for log hives

Box hives can fix it

A box hive (has no top bars)

By Isaac Semwanga

African bees have been on earth for very many years and the bees were not domesticated in the first place therefore bees had their nests in wild environment; forests. The bees nested in hollow stems and branches of trees. Since the bees lived such lifestyle for many years, they got used to such nests and ways of living.

Human beings would go (usually in big numbers) to hunt bees for honey during the honey flow seasons and this involved destroying nests in order to access the honey they want.

Well, today no more honey hunting since most of the trees are cut down for charcoal burning and termite hills are poisonous because humans use poison for killing termites. This has left bees with only limited nests to take up and these nests are hives constructed by man.  So in Uganda and Nakasongola in particular beekeepers are using log hives, Topbar hives are very few use langstroth hives.

A log hive

But before the introduction of modern hives ie topbar hives and frame hives, beekeepers were using log hives, pots, straw woven hives, and calabashes. These hives or nests today are referred to as local beekeeping hives involving traditional and primitive practices because a beekeeper cannot easily inspect his bees. Thanks to innovations in beekeeping for the new employed technology in beekeeping where bees can be inspected and manipulated with ease.

Beekeepers in Uganda today are using a mix of modern hives (Kenyan Topbar hives) and log hives, and the primary reason for using modern hives is to increase production since the KTB hives are big enough compared to log hives but this has not proved right since the modern hives are the least productive! Well records from other sources may say KTBH are performing hives but beekeepers in WBA are not convinced by the productions from Modern hives as compared to log hives.

Yes, we cannot rule this cause out because bees traditionally are used to log hives than modern hives; therefore they are more comfortable in log or traditional hives. This is true and since the sizes of these hives is small and simple compared to modern hives, bees find it easier for them to cover (population), and guard it very well. Bees also are used at building long combs just along the hive (end to end) (horizontally), and since they consider swarming (colony multiplication) as their first priority, they find it easier to populate the existing hive and then swarm.

Anyway it’s all another big story to tell. 

Since early 1990s to-date, charcoal burning and urbanization as led to limited access by bees and beekeepers to log hives and wild nests for bees, therefore the bees have to accept the available alternatives which are modern hives though

Toni and Balijula working on the box hive (Esau watching)

Mr. Balijula after failing to make his topbar hives production, he decided to make his own box hive without movable bars. His log hives are productive.

He made a 5.7ft long box hive (see in the photo) and another one which is about 5.2ft long. The bees filled all the boxes from end to end and to our surprise, they build combs which are about 1.5 to 2 feet long and then start a new one like that. His only draw with his innovation is; the hives are too long, he can’t reach the combs beyond 1.5ft away. So he leaves a lot of in the hives than he is supposed to leave!

The box hives are very easy to make; just join pieces of wood to make a hollow box and later cover the ends like we always do with log hives. I would recommend a size of 3.5ft or 4ft long and 1ft wide and high (width and height).

Inside the box hive

Let me go and make two for myself.

Bees come and colonise them!!

Honey Soy flour recipe

Sweet Honey Milk Soy flour recipe

Hey folks, we all know Wampiti is a land where milk and honey flows endlessly; thanks for the blessings. Since there is honey and milk always, lets us make a recipe deploying both milk and honey to “deliciously feel the tastes of Wampiti”. Well in the information provided below, I have substituted milk with soy flour; so here we go:-

Ingredients

Honey

1 part soy flour

1 part honey

1 part natural g-nut paste

This is a high protein snack for kids and maybe good even for bees. Actually you can use less honey to make the recipe less sweet. Adjust the measurements to suit your taste.

You want milk? Simply replace soy flour with milk.

How to split a colony

How to Split a colony using a top bar hive

By Isaac Semwanga

Hello fellow beekeepers, thank you very much for supporting God’s creation by hiving his creatures.  Bees are the only insects that make food (honey) for human beings! And we hardly exist on earth for long if bees varnish! They help human beings by pollinating crops as well as store honey (food and medicine) for man.

Of course there are crops (such as Vanilla) that don’t need bees for pollination but man wish bees would do the job because it is hectic!

Splitting bees

Splitting a colony is the only way beekeepers in Nakasongola (Wampiti in particular) can get new colonies for the empty hives since swarms are becoming less and less.  

Yes, swarms would colonise empty hives during swarming seasons but this stopped because honey hunting is no more (this involved destroying nests and the bees had to look for new nests and end up taking hives), colony management is high (some beekeepers don’t allow there bees to swarm), and bee population is declining!

Currently, members don’t have skills for rearing queens and there are no packed bees which one can buy and install in the new hive.

Therefore the only alternative for natural swarms to colonise beehives is to split existing colonies in order to get new colonies for empty hives.

For the past 2 years, members have been trying out this method but with limited success of 1 out of 10. With effect of considerations like moving combs with clinging bees, combs with eggs, pollen, larva and some honey bees still don’t last long in the new beehive! Well some bees are patient enough to eat the sugar syrup or honey you provide to them before absconding!

From my own experience, I have had success with 8 hives out of 10. I am going to illustrate my procedure of splitting hive below.

Although African bees are known for absconding so easily, but they don’t easily abscond from a hive they have lived for some good time. Yet they can easily abscond from a new hive!

Selecting and maintaining good traits of bees

Bees have characters that line up following each generation and this linage can be maintained if followed up closely by splitting the bees.

Some bees collect and store honey than others while others rear babies much more compared to honey stored. Some are docile and easy to work with. Other bees don’t easily abscond.

Procedures followed in splitting a colony

Before you plan to split a colony, please consider the following;

• 1.       Strength or size of the colony. Always split strong big colonies which have enough nurse bees, nectar/ pollen and brood
• 2.       Season. Never split a colony during dearth period. Make sure there are abundant flowers for nectar and usually the colony should be on the buildup stage.
• 3.       Presence of queen cells. This ensures that the bees themselves were planning to swarm in the near future therefore your coming-in just helps you to take the swarm into your hive directly before the bees fly away from your apiary.
• 4.       Presence of eggs and young larva. The bees can feed the larva and breed a queen in the newly created hive from the hatched eggs or larva.
• 5.       Smoke the new hive with wax or propolis to give it a nice scent. You can also rub the hive body with lemon grass just give the new hive a nice smell.

Splitting exercise

Bring the empty hive close to the old colonized hive

Transfer 2-4 bars full of brood and eggs

Transfer 2 bars with honey

Transfer one bar with pollen

Arranging the bars in the new hive

Just leaving 2 empty bars at the side of the entrance, install 1 bar with honey and pollen, install 1 bar with honey followed by brood (eggs and larva) and then 1 bar with honey.

Leave 4 empty bars following the last honey bar then install a follower board or anything you use to reduce on the size of the hive.

Move the old hive with old colony into a new spot and then install the new hive with a new colony into the old spot. This helps the new colony to collect more bees from the field to increase the population.

Considerations.

• Use less or no smoke. To avoid driving bees off the combs yet you need them into the new hive.
• Do the splitting activity late in the day when more bees are back in the hive. This ensures more bees being transferred into the new hive.
• Always move combs or bars with clinging bees to ensure that there are enough nursing bees in the new hive.
• If during your transfer, you never had a queen cell on any of the combs, you can help the bees choose a cell to make a queen by expanding two cells with newly hatched eggs. This helps the bees so much.
• Honey combs installed on both sides act as blankets for the larva. Always ensure that you have got enough bees in the new hive which will sit on the combs usually with larva and warm them.

Note:

Transferring old colony

Since the bees are used to their hive, they will not think about absconding from their hive too soon even if you change their location.

Bees in the new hive

Since the bees are in a new hive with no queen, they need something keeping them secure. Therefore leaving them in the old location, helps them to continue their daily work as usual; going into fields and coming back without losing their spot. And they don’t lose any bee from their population since all bees know the location and surprisingly, more bees can join them from the old hive when they mistakenly fly back to the old location! This helps on building more strength to the new hive.

Always provide the new bees with a small space which they can warm and guard well.

Never forget to share with us your experience!

Keep the bees buzzing!

Do bees benefit from Maize flowers and collecting Cassava flour?

Bees collecting cassava flour at one of WBA member's home

Here in Nakasongola; during the flowering season for maize, a thousands of bees swarm into the fields onto the flowers of maize. And during the dry season especially December to early March, here in Nakasongola, bees fly into shops and anywhere they find cassava flour. And some beekeepers during the dry season, provide the bees with cassava flour. 

And there is a believe that when bees collect a lot of cassava flour usually they produce a lot of honey unfortunately i cant not prove it though i see the bees collecting cassava flour.

Do really bees benefit from collecting cassava flour?

Conrad Berube says:

Bees are basically little robots and will react to their environment in the way by which evolutionary forces have molded them.  They will collect many powdery materials that have little, or no, nutritional value compared to what they would get from pollen (including things like powdered stone or sawdust).  

 

For instance here is the nutritional breakdown for cassava flour;

    
    

Nutritional Summary: Cals 160 Fat 0.28g Carbs 38.06g Prot 1.36g   There are 160 calories in 100 grams of Cassava. Calorie Breakdown: 1% fat, 96% carbs, 3% prot.

 

     

Here's the same for corn flour 

Nutritional Summary:

Cals 361

Fat 3.86g

Carbs 76.85g

Prot 6.93g

 

There are 361 calories in 100 grams of White Whole Grain Corn Flour.

Calorie Breakdown: 9% fat, 86% carbs, 5% prot.

 

 

Bees get most of the calories they need from nectar so the high carb substances (96% for cassava, 86 % for corn flour, represent wasted effort for bees, since pollen, is much higher in protein-- typically around 30%: 

Nutritional Summary:

Cals 314

Fat 4.9g

Carbs 43.5g

Prot 24.1g

 

There are 314 calories in 100 grams of Bee Pollen.

Calorie Breakdown: 14% fat, 55% carbs, 31% prot.

 

Here is the nutritional contents of Pollen:

• Protein } 20-35% protein by weight
• Fatty acids }
• Vitamin C }
• Iron }
• Zinc }
• Copper }
• Magnesium }

So if bees are collecting cassava or corn flour they need to collect/eat from 5-10 times as much to get the same amount of protein.  If, for some reason, beekeepers really want to supplement the pollen their bees are getting soy flour is a much better choice.

 

Nutritional Summary:

Cals 436

Fat 20.65g

Carbs 35.19g

Prot 34.54g

 

There are 436 calories in 100 grams of Soy Flour (Full Fat).

Calorie Breakdown: 40% fat, 33% carbs, 27% prot.  Well from the above discussion, it shows that there is less nutritional value in cassava flour compared to soy flour. But in Nakasongola, many families grow cassava and can easily produce and provide cassava flour to their bees. And soy flour is not accessible unless one goes into a supermarket and buy it because very few or no one grows soy in Nakasongola. Soy is not so much grown in Uganda compared to cassava, sweetpotatoes, yams, maize and banana/matooke.  And to my surprise and experience, bees don't collect maize flour so much like they would collect cassava flour.