Beekeepers for Life, Empowering 1300 Uganda Women

Brief progress summary 

1. The training was a success and this provided a knowledge base and skills in regard to beekeeping approaches. This 2 day training attracted at team of 4 district official who were grateful to Bees Abroad for the financial boost and equipping of farmers in productive enterprise.
2. The district promised to support the group since Operation Wealth Creation is venturing into apiculture. They will be among the first beneficiaries.
3. I had one in one with the Send a Cow coordinator who promised to avail sunflower seed to the group to boost the forage coverage for the bees.

Objective: Seeking to reduce poverty through beekeeping.

Topics handled during the training include

a)      Honey Bee Colony Management: This will include division making, trapping, colony inspection and hive stocking

b)      Seasonal management ( Dearth period, Build-up period, honey flow period and harvest period)

c)      Honey and bees wax processing procedure – practical

d)     Physical methods of determining honey quality at farm level by beekeeper

e)      Honey and bees wax marketing

f)       Hive products and utilization 

Impact of activities, key achievements & challenges

The training was a success that the participants we excited. I had 28 students who fully participated in the entire training.

The above activities were carried and the following were observed

-       Full participation of students on the wax processing that excited most of them

-       The seasonal management was once of the best topics that raised much discussion – the students wanted to understand the seasonal periods, they noted it was important to understand to periods for a successful beekeeping enterprise.

-       The groups received 5 hives from the district and purchased their owner 8 hives for the apiary demo site

-       2 members also bought 3, and 2 hives each

Challenges 

-       the distance of the apiary to the homesteads made it difficult

We  have scheduled training for her members from other sub counties on maize bee suit for January.