Social distancing at 11,000 miles - and proof that there's nothing new in beekeeping.

[jenkinsbrynmair]

A new proposal for a beekeeping project has been put to us in deepest Tanzania, obviously because of Covid I cannot make the journey out there to do the assessment, and even if I could the in country journey would be a few days each way!! Luckily Innocent, our in country trainer and person I'm mentoring was not that far away from the village so off he's gone to do the assessment then liaise with me for the report. He took a few photographs which he thought would interest me and whatsapped them to me this morning. The villagers are already trying to move away from traditional log hives etc into top bar management but this example actually harks back to an example of a very early primitive hive recorded by Eva Crane which probably prompted her to ask Peter Paterson to design what became the Kenyan top bar hive.
Inno also found an example of African ingenuity where an old oil drum has been converted to a TBH.






If I'm not mistaken the 'hive' in the second and third photo started off life as an arms chest. The top bars are just sticks.

 

[Fritillary]

Spears into ploughshares, arms chests into hives?

 

[Murox]

Thanks for sharing - great to see.

 

[For want of a better word]

Keep up the good work!

Yeghes da

 

[viridens]

How are these hives populated? From splits of existing colonies, or are they used as bait hives? Or?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How are these hives populated? From splits of existing colonies, or are they used as bait hives? Or?

As these are just local beekeepers trying to move towards top bar rather than continue with traditional methods (you must remember that Wednesday is the first contact we've had with the group and I've yet to speak to Inno with regards his findings) and not an established group I would guess that they would just be colonised by swarms - It's sub Saharan Africa, and, especially in Tanzania, the bees are almost migratory, swarms are regular and prolific.
The traditional practice is to leave bark hives or log hives suspended high i trees (honey badgers are a real issue) wait for a swarm to move in, then when they have honey, kill the colony, take the honey and put the hive back in the tree for the net swarm.

 

[pargyle]

If I'm not mistaken the 'hive' in the second and third photo started off life as an arms chest. The top bars are just sticks.

I used to see a lot of arms and ammunition boxes re-purposed in Tanzania for everything from domestic furniture to school desks and chairs. Oil drums were a valuable commodity and any sort of shipping container, wood or steel, was highly prized. We used to send end of use shipping containers to Tanzania with our shipments and our Agent, a devout Christian and Moslem (He figured if he did Mosque on Saturday and church on Sunday he would have a good chance in the afterlife), was very proud of the hotel he built from the containers we sent with one large consignment. I was a little surprised when he told me that it was a 'hotel' just for women' and that he let rooms by the hour ... I think commerce sometimes trumped religion.

But .. it is quite amazing how everything in Africa gets used - it really does have to be rubbish to be disposed of.

 

[coffindodger]

But .. it is quite amazing how everything in Africa gets used - it really does have to be rubbish to be disposed of.[/QUOTE]

Not yet! A friend of mine is working in western Africa to produce boxes and frames for various 'systems' from Langstroth(ish) to 'skep'. The French machine is basically a press which takes in plastic waste and compresses to shape. No sorting or clever discrimination. There is so much plastic waste in cities. Some is collected and recycled in conventional ways, but a system which allows poor people to directly use waste should be promoted.
BTW I did have to deal with a (human) problem from using 44gallon drums. They had been used to carry pesticides. You can make the links.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Here's a bee 'hive' I was shown not far from my 'house' when I was out in Lesotho

 

[viridens]

It's a rubber skep, innit?

Wrt your reply to my previous question, is it tradition or ignorance that prevents honey harvesters from retaining some brood combs and hopefully the q along with them?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

It's a rubber skep, innit?

Wrt your reply to my previous question, is it tradition or ignorance that prevents honey harvesters from retaining some brood combs and hopefully the q along with them?

Neither - the whole nest gets destroyed when they take apart the hive to get at the honey, there are no lids,frames or top bars in log/bark hives, they are just tubes so the comb gets attached to the sides. We are talking adansonii bees (AKA scutellata) here, as I said they're semi migratory and abscond at the least excuse, even if you could leave some brood and the queen, the disruption would be enough to make them leave.

 

[viridens]

Thanks for the prompt reply and info. An interesting insight into very different method of honey production with different bees, climate and housing. I'm interested to know your role and how you help. Apologies if you have already explained here before.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'm interested to know your role and how you help. .

I wish I knew myself at times we're project managers (or Partnership managers as we're now called) in general we are trying to take a little step back in how we run things. BA are now in a position where the people trained out in Africa (and other countries) are now competent enough to do their own training and project management. As PM, my first contact after an enquiry for help is to go out and assess the project (has it got potential, will it work, what skills have they already) We then have to write a report then a business plan with costings to the trustees and we're off. Bees Abroad try and source sponsors for the projects where possible and aim for a three year plan, these sometimes then roll out to a bigger project.
Initial setup visits and training may be made then maybe an annual visit to assess progress and give further training - but each project is different.
It costs quite a bit to send someone over from here for just a few weeks so it makes financial sense to pay someone in country (their wages aren't the same as here) as you get more bang for your buck. It's also a step closer to what our long term target is - to make them self sufficient not only in a livelihood sense but in training and expertise. That is what we are doing with Inno, he is a beekeeper we sponsored through college to be a beekeeping instructor. We are waiting to see whether WWF Tanzania are going to run with a regional beekeeping project proposed by one of their in country Executives which I went out to assess last year, I then mentored and advised Inno in writing the project plan. I would then have popped over once a year as his line manager doing an overtaking visit. The latest one is another proposal, and as Innocent was not too far away from the village he was sent to do the assessment himself (obviously due to the pandemic I can't go over) we will then work together on the assessment and decide whether it is viable.

 

[viridens]

Thanks for all the information. It sounds like a useful project that will actually benefit folks that need a hand up, and it's based in appropriate technology. it must be very satisfying when things go well. It'll be good to have the WWF on side too. I hope that works out.

I was involved with the Computers 4 Africa project some years back. the practical side of things was fine but I found the meetings, paperwork, and bureaucracy draining, and I never actually got to Africa myself. I had reservations too. Computer literacy is not the most pressing concern in many villages, and I believe the technology and associated infrastructure was inappropriate. I also found that a young man I had been training in electronics was a Nigerian government spook, but that's another story... And the project was felt to be good for Microsoft's PR. The project is still active with many 'Partners' on the bandwagon.

Anyhow, well done you!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I was involved with the Computers 4 Africa project some years back. the practical side of things was fine but I found the meetings, paperwork, and bureaucracy draining, and I never actually got to Africa myself. I had reservations too. Computer literacy is not the most pressing concern in many villages, and I believe the technology and associated infrastructure was inappropriate.

Yes, think I saw the end result of something similar when I was out in Lesotho, the orphanage 'library' (which had no electricity) had three ageing desktops sat in a corner under a thick layer of dust whilst outside people were sat in the sun whatsapping their friends on their android phones .