Beekeeping Training Posters 2015 English

BEEKEEPING TRAINING POSTERS
Ref: Uganda National Beekeeping Training and Extension Manual 2014
MAAIF
Plot 76, Buganda Road.

P.O. Box 8680, Kla - Uganda.
Tel: +256 414 258 070
Email: info@tunadobees.org
Website: www.tunadobees.org
Follow us on twitter: tunado_bees
(a) Establishing an Apiary Site

Trees
Apiary in a
live hedge
Water
BEES ARE
BUSY DONT
DISTURB
Foot Path
Choose a location with trees,a reasonable distance from the
homestead and public. Trees provide shade and forage for
the bees
Trees make good live hive stands
Bees can also be kept near the house. Take care to create the ight path
of your bees, making sure it does not interfere with people or animals
If there are no suitable trees make a strong

hive stand. Remember that hives full of
honey are very heavy
Live fences dont rot and some provide

owers too
Living safely with bees
Keep animals away from hives, dont tether

them near the apiary
Bees for Development
It is your job to teach children and other

people of the community the dangers of bees
Bees are less aggressive when foraging.

They only sting when they are disturbed
APICULTURE TRAINING POSTERS
MAAIF
(b) Top bar hives

Tel: +256 414 258 070
32 mm
The body of the hive can be made of

timber or bamboo
The top-bars need to be exactly the right

width (32mm)
The top-bars need to be exactly the right

length
Preparation
Top-bar hives are boxes with a series of

top-bars arranged side by side-
It is easy to inspect and harvest mature

Honey
Advantages of a top-bar hive

Honeycombs can be removed without
disturbing the brood nest
Top bars can be lifted from the hive and
replaced, allowing the colony to be examined
Ripe honey alone can be harvested with
no brood
Easy to transfer a colony
It is easy to harvest honey comb from top bars
Disadvantages compared to
local style hives
Higher cost
Greater loss of investment if colony absconds
More time is needed for colony inspection
Ants are often more of a problem in top-bar
hives
Attractive to thieves
Colony inspection can cause to abscondment
APICULTURE TRAINING POSTERS
MAAIF
(c) Local style hives

Tel: +256 414 258 070
There are many styles of local hives. They

have a number of advantages for
beekeepers
Local hives can be made from materials

which are locally available and in plentiful
supply
Natural materials keep the colony cool in hot

weather and warm in cold weather
Logs, bark, climbers, bamboo, sticks, and clay

can all be used to make beehives
It is possible to judge the time for harvesting

by lifting the hive to see how heavy it is.
Lift the end opposite the entrance because
that is where the honey is stored
There must be a honey door so honey can be

cropped. This should be the opposite end from
the bees entrance
Advantages of a local style

Low cost
A beekeeper can aord to hive many colonies
and so harvest large volumes of produce
If a colony absconds the nancial loss is
smaller than for more expensive hives
Disadvantages compared to
top-bar hive
It is more dicult to know when honey is ready
for harvesting
Bees and brood are sometimes killed during
harvesting
Combs containing brood, pollen and unripe
Local hives utilise local knowledge and skills
honey may have to be removed to access ripe
Less attractive to thieves
honey
No risk of spreading bee diseases because

combs are not transferred between hives
Suitable for tropical African bees
Disturbance during harvesting may cause the

colony to abscond
MAAIF
(d) Getting Your Bees - Four ways to get bees
Self-colonisation
Clean the hive and melt beeswax or propolis

inside to give an attractive smell
Hives must be sited some weeks in advance

of the swarming season to give time for the
scouts from other colonies to nd it
Swarms that hive themselves are likely to stay in

the hive. This is the easiest method to get bees
Catching a swarm
During the swarming period collect the swarm

by shaking so the bees fall into the container

Tel: +256 414 258 070
Carry the collected swarm to the hive
Tip the swarm into the waiting bee hive and close
Do not disturb for some days, bees may abscond.
Using a baited catcher box
A catcher box should be smaller than a normal

hive. It should be baited and placed in a high
location
Monitor the catcher box every 1-2 days to

see if it is colonised
Dont leave a colonised catcher box for too long

otherwise it will be hard to transfer into a full sized
hive and the bees will return to the original site.
Dividing an existing colony
B
B
Identify a strong colony to divide and prepare

an empty hive
Transfer 5-6 combs with brood to the new hive. Do not

brush the bees o the combs. Some cells must contain
newly laid eggs. Also transfer two combs of honey and
pollen
Close both hives carefully. Place the new hive on the

site where the original hive was, with the entrance in
the same place. Place the original hive about 1m away
MAAIF
(e) Keeping your bees safe from pests and predators
Beatles

Tel: +256 414 258 070
Rats
Aligators
Moth
Snakes
Honey Badger
Pests are normal. You cannot avoid them

completely. You can reduce their impact
Bees are well-equipped to protect their nest

from pests
A beekeeper can help bees to keep pests away. For

example placing hives in safe places and sealing holes
Apply grease to hive stands to prevent ants from

climbing and entering the colony
Hanging hives in trees deters badgers. Where this

is not possible suspend on wires
Preparation
Install guards made of iron sheets to stop mice

and rats climbing up the stands
Chase away animals which have nested in

empty hives before the swarming season
Keep the grass short in apiary
Strong colonies repel wax moth which only invade

weak colonies. Strong colonies are those with
access to good forage
Leave some colonies without harvesting honey. They will produce more swarms which
will quickly replace any colonies which die out

Tel: +256 414 258 070
(f) Bee Forage
MAAIF
The most important thing you can do to increase honey yields is to

protect and plant trees for bees
Bees suck nectar with their tongues and collect

pollen on their basket legs
No forage means no food for bees hence no honey
Adult bees feed pollen to young bees. No pollen

means no young bees. Nectar is turned into
honey
Look around you. If you see a bee on a

ower make sure you protect these plants
-Calliandra
-Bottle brush
-Sunower
-Coee
-Mangoe
-Acacia
-Eucalyptus
-Shea tree
And most farm crops
A list of important bee plants
Conserve and plant many dierent forage

plants for honey
Protect all vegtation from re
When to harvest
Bee Population
(g) Harvesting honey safely
MAAIF

Tel: +256 414 258 070
Build up
Honey flow
Dearth
Season
Follow the bee calendar so you know when to

harvest. Timing is very important
Harvesting
Approach the apiary in a calm manner from

the back or side of the hives
If you have a movable comb hive you can open

and check for ripe honey. Ripe honey is sealed
with wax cappings
Preparation
Clean the buckets throughly well and check if

they have good air tight lids
You can tell by observing bees when there is

honey. The bees become less active and the
drones have all died
It is best to harvest in the day time so you can see what

you are doing and bees are less likely to fall on the ground.
Take care if there are many hives in one apiary as they can
become agitated
Bee gentle while harvesting
Collect smoker fuel and light the smoker
Sort honey, rst grade honey is fully sealed with

no brood or pollen. Second grade honey should
be put in a separate bucket
Keeping safe
WA
BEE
SA
RNI
RE
NG
DEF
ENS
IVE
Tell people to keep away from the apiary during

the harvest to avoid on lookers from getting
stung
If you are stung scrape out the sting straight away

or the poison will continue entering your body
Fire destroys always take care and put all re

out sensibly

Tel: +256 414 258 070
(h) About beeswax
MAAIF
Beeswax is produced by the bodies of honey bees

to build combs
After the honey has been drained from honey

comb, beeswax remains. This is a valuable product
Beeswax can be sold for cash
First wash the beeswax to remove any left-over honey
Melt the clean wax in a pot of hot water. Do not

heat directly the beeswax
Pour through a heavy cloth and squeeze with

wooden sticks. Leave to cool
Beeswax can be used to make candles
Beeswax can be melted and mixed with good

quality oil to make skin creams
Beeswax can be used to make starter strips in

top-bar hives
BEESWAX
BEESWAX
BEESWAX
Bees wax
BEESWAX
Hot water
Heat
Beeswax should always be heated in water because

it will burn if heated directly
Even dry and old brood combs can be rendered

you shouldnt throw them away
Beeswax is an export product on demand in Europe,

Japan & USA
MAAIF
(i) Preparing honey for sale
Processing
Honey can be separated from the wax comb using

simple equipment.
Honey can be sold in liquid and comb
A minimum quantity is needed to attract

a buyer to collect from the village
Unpacked honey can be transported

to town for sale
Packing honey for sale
Packing honey adds value to the product
A honey press can also be used
Selling honey in bulk
Beekeepers can set up collection centres in their

villages and supply their local association

Tel: +256 414 258 070
Honey labeling regulations require name and

address of packer and weight of honey on
the label
Good presentation and competitive pricing will

achieve good sales
Maintaining quality
PETROL
Store honey in a clean, dry and cool environment
Do not store honey near chemicals or fuels
Avoid exposing honey to the heat of the sun

during long journeys
(j) Enterprise Analysis For Beekeeping Business
MAAIF

Tel: +256 414 258 070
Income
gx)
INCOME (U
)
x
g
(U
T
S
CO
0,000
100kg - 40
200,000
20 Hives - 40,000
2 smokers
HONEY
HONEY
Beekeeping is an important business opportunity

for farmers
swax
10kg of bee
It is important to do beekeeping as a business
Develop a beekeeping cost and income plan
Equipment & services used
Cost of bee hives
Transport cost
Value Addition
Income is earned from selling honey,

beeswax and propolis
Cost of harvesting gear
In Uganda research shows that a beekeeper can

harvest between 5-20 kilos of honey per colony
per season, depending on forage availability,
size of the colony and management approach
When predicting income it is wise to take into

account that not all hives have bees all the
time. This is normal
With the same investment it is possible to buy

more local style hives compared to top-bar hives.
The total yield is likely to be greater with more colonies
Keeping records is essential so you know your costs
Growing Business
It is important to re-invest some of the prot in

the beekeeping to keep the business growing

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BEEKEEPING TRAINING POSTERS

Ref: Uganda National Beekeeping Training and Extension Manual 2014

Plot 76, Buganda Road.

(a) Establishing an Apiary Site

Trees make good live hive stands

If there are no suitable trees make a strong

Live fences dont rot and some provide

Living safely with bees

Keep animals away from hives, dont tether

Bees for Development

It is your job to teach children and other

Bees are less aggressive when foraging.

APICULTURE TRAINING POSTERS

Ref: Uganda National Beekeeping Training and Extension Manual 2014

(b) Top bar hives

Plot 76, Buganda Road.

The body of the hive can be made of

The top-bars need to be exactly the right

The top-bars need to be exactly the right

Top-bar hives are boxes with a series of

It is easy to inspect and harvest mature

Advantages of a top-bar hive

Bees for Development

It is easy to harvest honey comb from top bars

APICULTURE TRAINING POSTERS

Ref: Uganda National Beekeeping Training and Extension Manual 2014

(c) Local style hives

Plot 76, Buganda Road.

There are many styles of local hives. They

Local hives can be made from materials

Natural materials keep the colony cool in hot

Logs, bark, climbers, bamboo, sticks, and clay

It is possible to judge the time for harvesting

There must be a honey door so honey can be

Advantages of a local style

Local hives utilise local knowledge and skills

honey may have to be removed to access ripe

Less attractive to thieves

No risk of spreading bee diseases because

Bees for Development

Disturbance during harvesting may cause the