Bees Save Trees

Objectives achieved
WBA was founded with a core objective of uniting beekeepers to share information openly concerning beekeeping and other issues. The second core objective was to use beekeeping as a tool to stop massive tree cutting for charcoal by local people.

Before the establishment of WBA, every beekeeper was on his own way; problems and successes in the bee yards were not shared. For example when one harvests honey (at night) and you visit that home the following day (would see bees buzzing around the home in search for the honey), the family would deny the presence of honey in the house though the buzzing bees would signal its presence.
When members joined WBA, that issue was addressed. Members were encouraged to share information with others; for example if one finds honey in his or her hive, he or she should immediately call and let others know and ask them to check for honey in their hives too. Members now visit other member’s apiaries for sourcing more knowledge and skills.

Teamwork is also realized; members now days invite fellow members to go and help them in case need arise. Non-WBA members have also started being open by telling what is happening in their apiaries and visiting WBA members for knowledge. Before, beekeepers had myths such as when a non-family member goes into the bee yard, the bees don’t produce honey.

Bees have played a big role in protecting trees from being cut down by people for charcoal burning. Most beehives are installed under trees; therefore they protect the trees where they are including the surrounding areas in almost a radius of 60metres. Members are also securing trees in favour of bees in the sense that the bees need nectar from flowers produced by trees. This is realized through a campaign known as “save a tree for my bees”.

Good honey markets have been obtained by the beekeepers. Unlike before where every beekeeper would negotiate in the market individually and this led to many beekeepers being cheated. Today when a WBA member lands a good market, he or she immediately alerts the fellow members. This has helped lot of beekeepers from being cheated by honey traders. Before a kilogram of honey was bought at $1 sometimes less but now it sells at $2-$3 per kilogram.

No more visiting beehives at night. Big thanks to friends from overseas who helped us to learn how to manipulate bees during day time. Members know smokers and know why they need them; and so the bees are just turned into flies!

Female beekeepers are actively involved. The traditional/ cultural chains were broken by WBA! Women are more actively committed than men. Before, culture and norms were not allowing women to keep bees because men believed that women are cursed and so their hives can’t produce honey and so they were not allowed to keep bees!

Thanks to everyone who has made everything possible and achievable by WBA.
Bees are now our pets!

Plantain Nectar is real

Witnessed nectar in plantain flowers
Once upon a time when I was still young (6 to 12 years), I would with my young brothers run to suck nectar from the plantain flowers before the birds (hummingbirds –), and bees eat it. This was very common during the school holidays when we had a lot of free time throughout the day.

The plantain flowers contain sweet substances (a size of a drop in every flower) which are sweet like honey. The bees and birds collect this substance every time ie they keep visiting every flower throughout the day. We would find a lot of nectar between 9am and 11am in the morning.

Therefore for us to find nectar, we should be available by 9am and again more flowers open petals at around 4pm and we should be available before the birds eat everything. The flowers open up at around 7:30 in the morning and more flowers open at around 2pm. The juice becomes sweet after 2 hours.
The competition between us and the bees was stiff in that even when the flowers fall on the ground, the bees come and suck them from there. We would sometimes get stung by the bees when not careful!

It is very unfortunate that many plantain plantations were destroyed by a virus called Banana Wilt which destroys the whole plant including the fruit. The researchers suggested that the virus was transmitted by bees when they visit one flower and then to another and the knives used by people during pruning or cutting off excess leaves.

Today the bees are no longer collecting a lot of nectar from plantain flowers because many farmers are cutting the flowers right away after the productive clusters as advised by the ministry of agriculture.

Our friend Toni sucked and tested juice from the plantain flower and she liked it. I think she could become a nice plantain juice hunter-
I have got a lot of beekeeping stories to share but I need a lot of time to meditate.

Let me know when you need them--- keep buzzing--- friends.

Propolis Producing Hives - Log hives

Propolis producing hives!
Hives are known to produce honey, wax, propolis, pollen, royal jelly and bee venom.

But some items are produced according to the set up of the hive and the required equipments specifically designed to harvest pollen, royal jelly and bee venom. All bee hives are expected to produce all the mentioned products but some hives are more competent than others. For example langstroth hives are good for harvesting pollen when you have the traps / collectors than Kenyan topbar hives.

Therefore log hives are more productive when it comes to propolis than other types of hives.

Propolis is glue bees collect from trees buds, sap flowers, resins and use it to seal the unwanted openings, resize the entrances, cover dead bodies of insects or mice in the hive, and inhibits fungal and bacterial growth.

So, log hives are capable of producing more propolis than other types of hives with only one simple trick. Log hives have wide openings at both ends and these openings are covered with anything which fits and doesn’t produce oduor such as worn saucepans, and iron sheets, some beekeepers make covers using banana fibres and blocks of soil.

So when you remove the cover and don’t take it back within a few days, the bees in just a few days will build a sheet of propolis to cover the entrance and leave few small holes as the entrances. Note: this trick is effective during rainy season.  Don’t try this during the dry season; the bees may abscond.
So if one wants more propolis, he/she should cut out the sheet and store it. The bees will build a new one until you remove it and install the cover back.

Mr. Lubowa a known beekeeper in Wampiti recently told me that he harvested 5kilograms of propolis from only 30hives in two rounds! He went ahead to say that bees seal the entrance faster during the busy days of bringing in nectar than days when they have no serious activity especially in drought.

When bees have brood and nectar (honey), they seal the entrance faster. The hive must be strong enough to build such a wide piece of propolis. I have witnessed weak hives falling to build a propolis sheet wide enough to cover the whole entrance. I have also ever seen a strong hive failing to close the entrance entirely with propolis! Therefore I can’t tell what exactly triggers the bees to build a big sheet to cover the entrance.

Beekeepers, Bees are hardworking creatures, please respect them!