Monday, December 28, 2009

More beekeeping in Uganda

A pair of UK beekeepers were profiled for teaching beekeeping skills to children in Uganda. Dave Bonner and Cath Tompsett traveled to Uganda with the charity Global Care. The charity raised the money for beekeeping equipment and the couple is teaching the people how to do it to earn extra income.

From the article in the Coventry Telegraph, we read more about how this type of skill can help the poor in Uganda.

Ten new hives have been provided which will mean extra income for poor families, better nutrients for malnourished children, and eventually, a vocational training opportunity for young people supported by Global Care.

Dave, 57, a bee inspector for Leicestershire and Rutland, said: “The idea is to give the children another skill and another source of income.

If people can get a hive with the correct baiting, which introduces a smell within it to attract the bees, then it is easy to keep them.

“Bees are plentiful in Uganda. The land is lush and green and there is lots of forage.

“A hive built locally only costs about £20 but when the average worker there is only being paid about 30p a day, which is £90 a year, then they simply can’t afford to do it.

“What we are doing is raising money for the hives and giving people awareness of bee keeping and teaching the skills so they can be used as a local resource.

“Once it is up and running a hive can give them an additional £120-£150 a year through selling honey and wax.”

2 comments:

Peter and Janice said...

We are living and working in Sierra Leone and without prior experience in keeping bees want to explore the opportunities of using a couple of church owned hectacres of land overlooking Freetown to produce honey. We have so far drawn a blank on any bee projects or support service for beekeeping. Can you assist with information please.
Peter Clark

Unknown said...

Hello Peter,

I would contact Global Care http://www.globalcare.org/ and ask if you can contact the beekeepers in this story. Also, Heifer International may be able to provide some help http://www.heifer.org/