Pre-flight check……………………

Soon all these colonies will be transported to Masaka to start the training school. We will have to do a pre flight check to make sure we understood the stucture of each and every one of the hive in order to have them transferred without any hiccups.

Helmut and I had been keeping bees in our garden in Kampala for the last 5 years. All good things must come to an end. He will be leaving Uganda soon and I had taken the task to adopt his bees. They will come in very handy for my training school at Timothy Centre, Masaka.

An amazing friend that shared the same passion as I. In fact his experience in beekeeping is far more greater than mine for he has been based in a few African countries and he had always kept bees.

We went to his place around 1930hrs but the rain had disrupted our schedule and finally at around 2045hrs, the sky managed to clear and we proceed on with the checks.

Francis, my bee master, who will be the overall in charge of the training school at Timothy’s, assisted me is making my rounds. So far I am very pleased with his performance and the way he handles the bees, although there are still a lot of rooms for improvement.

We had to perform our harvest and check in the night because Kampala is really saturated with residential housing and we do not want the bees to disturb the neighbors should they became cranky.

There are a few reasons why we are harvesting some of the honey. When the volume of honey is reduced, the bees tend to be less aggressive because they have less honey to protect. At the same time, the hive will be much lighter for us to transport them for the 2 hrs drive.

Comb honey is highly in demand from the expatriates community because these “Muzungus” honey lover truly appreciate fresh comb honey harvested directly from the hive without going through any processing or filtering. Honey at its purest!

The fascinating sight of having the comb honey being sliced open, watching the liquid gold flowing down onto the platter, makes one wonder how nature had created such a small yet dynamic insect, being able to interact socially amongst themselves without a single conflict.

Although African bees are known to be very aggressive, they still do display its gentle side, provided we as human being, listen to them more attentively and try not not force ourselves onto them during harvesting. No clashes will occur.

The result – beautiful comb honey with little or no casualties on both parties. Many a times, bee farmers are too eager to get the job done. They approached the hive with only this intention…… get the honey and go. Whether the bees are destroy or not is secondary. To me, this is honey hunting.

Every time when I harvest honey, I will always think of this friend of mine, Joanna Yue, that shared her squash knowledge when we played. She will remind me that in order to play good squash, I have to think of the process, not the outcome. So long as I set the process right, the outcome will be right.

In beekeeping, I applied the same principle. Thinking of the process, by listening to the bees, observing whether it’s the right time to move in or not, practicing patience. The outcome will see me having that beautiful comb taken out from the hive. I do feel a great sense of achievement whenever I managed to harvest fresh comb honey without agitating the bees and being able to keep their temperament at bay.

Every road that we walked, every path that we take, it’s all about life experiences. It’s just a matter of how one adapt to the situation and environment. Even a young lady nearly half my age, had shared a life skill so valuable that I am applying it now.

Anyone care to have a taste of fresh comb honey?

Sneak Preview…..My Honey Boutique…………………….

Here is a sneak preview of my honey boutique. Eventually, it will house honey of different floral from different parts of Uganda.

This boutique will be the first in Uganda which sells honey that meets European Union Honey Quality Legislations. Every harvest, samples will be sent to University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart Germany for melissapalynology.

For a start, we shall be concentrating on honey, honey snacks for regular consumption. There will also be honey products that come in gift packaging for special events. Occasionally, we will have special “Comb Honey”.

In the future we will include by-products from honey like, bee pollen, royal jelly and propolis. All these takes time because it involve a lot of certification and testing. Once its approved, we shall then launch them. Meanwhile candles made out of beeswax are already on sale.

My Honey Boutique in Kampala.

Boutique will have a collection of honey of different floral from different parts of the Country.

Honey packed in 450gm glass jar.

Banana fibre box set which include honey, candles and spoon.

Clay hut contain small jar of honey carefully hand crafted by skilled potter.

Little angels made out of beeswax.

100% natural beeswax candles.

Honey coated snacks (sweet potato & G-nuts)

Routine tour of duty at Shoprite…………………….

Shoprite staff arranging honey shelf.

Today I went to Shoprite to check on my stocks. Ramadan (the Shoprite staff in the picture), told me that although things are moving slowly, it is still moving. My honey is slowly gaining ground with shoppers there. By the way, Shoprite Checkers is an established South African supermarket based in most parts of Africa Continent. Most of the customers that are using my honey are mainly Expatriates and Somalian. They are more particular about the quality.

Kids of Africa honey well stocked up for this coming festive season.

Flashbacks………………..

Talking to Minister regarding the consequences of importing bees.

International exposure for Ugandan beekeepers.

The making of…………………….

Last year was a year of filming. After the media team from Singapore left, another TV media crew from Japan came and did a documentary. I was invited to assist them in calming the bees before the filming. They had no idea that the African bees were so aggressive. The camera man got stung and he nearly fainted. He applied insect repellent prior to the filming without checking with me, thinking that would repel the bees. On the contrary, bees hate scents. We had to go around the villages a few time to identify a suitable colony for filming. By the time the shoot was over, it was coming to 11pm.

The main objective for this filming is to showcase the possibilities of bees by-product, beeswax. After the harvesting of beeswax, the crew proceed to an orphanage in the North which was funded by Japanese NGO. The orphans were taught how to use beeswax to make crayons.

I had to leave them for other commitment after making sure that they were not injured during the engagement with the bees.

TV crew from Japan.

Taking a deep breath before getting close to the hive.

In action.

It took quite some time for the host of the program to pluck up his courage to approach the bees.

Constant practice makes perfect…………………….

Safe method of opening.

Last week, my bee master came and had a refresher course with me at my house. Handling bees and using the smoker needs constant practice. This way, my bee master will then be able to share the knowledge with the rest of the bee farmers in the villages.

Beekeeping in Uganda is quite different from beekeeping in developed Countries. Most of the farms are deep in the villages and you will never know what you can find underneath the cover of the hives. Constantly we have to remind our village folks to open the hives away from them. If we are lucky, we only get rats or frogs hibernating underneath the covers. We had come across cobras and adders lying comfortably underneath as well. We just do not want to get ourselves in for a shock. It could be our last harvest if this simply rule is not applied.

Bee master lifting cover gently, and away from him.

Lifting up the cover needs utmost care. It had to be taken off gently to avoid sudden and abrupt movements. This way, the bees will remain calm and we have to maintain this calmness throughout the whole operation in order to have a non confrontational harvest.

Nothing is perfect. This colony happened to conduct their flight activity from the back due to a gap between the last two bars and having the queen at the rear. It became a good training hive because this will get the farmer to think and use his initiative on how he is supposed to work according to the environment.

All these while, farmers were taught to harvest honey only during the night. In fact, its more of honey hunting than beekeeping.

Bee master calming the bees with a smoker.

Bees do not really flies in the night because they can’t see clearly. Instead they will crawl or cling on to any movements. Most of the bees are thus killed during the operation. Farmers simply brushed them off vigorously from their body, crushing them mercilessly. I believe harvesting during the day is a more positive approach. But then it boils down to how you handle them again.

The understanding and gentle usage of the smoker is very important. Too little smoke, the bees will not be afraid of you. Too much smoke, it will instill fear of a fire and thus they will retaliate. If the farmers were taught to observe and understand the movement and behaviour of the bees when smoke is introduced, he will stand a better chance of a non-confrontational harvest. Smoking is a skill which I find most of the bee farmers are lacking.

Gentle smoking goes a long way.

Many farmers are still having this idea that smoking as much onto them will make them go away. I will always use this analogy on them, “If someone were to direct a lot of smoke on your face to choke you, how would you feel?” That makes them think.

If one were to smoke the bees gently, you will find them hurrying back to one destination, the queen. Some worker bees will try and locate the queen to wait for her instruction. Other worker bees will spread themselves among the unripe honey and restore them into their honey sacs. In case if the queens command is to abscond, the colony will have sufficient supply of food at the next destination before resuming normal work pattern. Bees had developed a systematic approach within its community. If we were just to be more patient and learn their behavior, it will help us in our beekeeping work.

Opening up the hives starting from the back away from the queen and brood chamber.

When the worker bees had ingested enough honey, most of them will be calm. Many farmers do not realize that. This is when you can slowly lift up the topbars to inspect them.

All these movements have to be performed as slowly as possible. Bees vision have a refresh rate of only 15 frames per seconds. If movements are slow, it is as if there are no movements at all according to the bees vision. So aggression is minimized.

In a bee hive, the front portion where the bees have their flight activities will always be the brood chamber while the back part of the hive will be the honey chamber. During honey flow period, most of the combs will be emptied to allow storage of nectar which later be transformed into honey.

Farmers were reminded not to harvest all the honey but to leave some for the colony. They will then stay.

Bee master harvested honey successfully.

Nothing makes a farmer more happy when he is able to harvest honey in a proper way, without killing bees in the process. On top of that, he knows that the honey harvested is clean and pure without the taste of smoke.

Practice only makes a habit. CONSTANT practice makes perfect.

Rare view in a traditional local rattan hive…………………….

Many had seen honey in jars. Some had seen honey stored by bees kept in modern beehives. But few had really seen how does a traditional local beehive with bees keep their honey. Here we bring you as close as when we are harvesting the honey from a traditional beehive. Noticed the smoke that is hovering around the entrance of the beehive. We used smoke to break the communication amongst the bees. Unity is strength. So long as the bees could not interact with each other, they tend to be less aggressive, instead they will try and find its way back to the queen to wait for instructions.

Smoking the surrounding of the hives simulates a forest fire. Their instinctive reaction is to first see what’s the queen’s decision, to stay or flee. If they find that the smoke is not that threatening, it could be just some smoke coming from a faraway fire, they will stay. But if they sense that the smoke is getting unbearable and the heat getting stronger, they will turn aggressive and flee or abscond the hive. Smoking bees takes years of experience in order to understand how much is not too much.

I find beekeeping with traditional hives is much better when comes to farmers’ beekeeping knowledge and skills. They have more confident in handling the bees as compared to the modern way of keeping bees in “Langstroth hives”. One thing I had witnessed was that there were less destruction and casualties to the bees during harvesting.

Here is a footage of us inspecting a colony in a traditional local rattan beehive. Observed how calm the bees were even when the hive is fully opened. African bees are considered the most ferocious species of honeybees, but with understanding and careful way of approach and handling them, it can be achieved.

Every approach is a challenge. African bees when annoyed will turn aggressive within 4 seconds. In this instance, we would have to close the cover quickly and move away as fast as our legs can carry us and move on to the next hive. We will only return to the same hive in the next few days. Cranky little ladies

So as you can see, the joy we have in putting that teaspoon of honey in your cereals

My first colony…………………….

This clip was taken in 2001. This was my first colony I captured myself. I have to thank a Ugandan beekeeper. His attitude made me determined to get my own colony. He was supposed to be a very good beekeeper. He was just too arrogant to share. In the beginning, my work was very tough. Most Ugandans are unwilling to share. They worried that people will be better than them. I guess these are their setbacks.

I wanted a colony to study and request him to teach me. I will pay for it. Days turn to weeks and weeks turn to months. Everytime I asked him when I can start the lesson, he kept telling me to wait. In fact, he took my money but did not make any effort to arrange for the training.

Finally when Professor Horn came, the first thing I asked was to teach me was how to capture my own colony. It was exciting when I got this first colony which I called my own.

The view was breathtaking when they entered the hive. I was in my room when I heard a loud humming sound. When I look through the window, I saw a black mass approaching my backyard where my hive was situated. Without a second thought, I grabbed my video camera as I know they are coming. I was so excited that I did not ask myself was it dangerous to get myself in the flight path of a swarming colony. That I forgot to ask the Professor.

I simply stood in front of them, capturing them while they are entering the hive. I guess they did not mind me there. After 30 mins, the whole swarming process was over and everything quiet down as if nothing had happened.

Uganda honey spreading wings…………………….

Ray and a display of "value added" honey and honey products that will be produced at Timothy Centre.

Another productive Saturday. I had a very fruitful discussion with Mr. Ray Sutton, the Executive Director of Pacific Academy Outreach Society, Canada. Timothy Centre is one of the many projects that he oversees. Its another one of his babies.

Our discussion touches on the development of agriculture products that will be exported to Canada and North America once Timothy Centre has fully develop the sector.

Meanwhile, honey products is already underway and this time round Ray will be introducing honey and beeswax candles into Canada and North America market. Following suit will be coffee and passion fruit as discussed with Karl earlier.

As our discussion took us further regarding the development of Timothy Centre, we concurred that we should also develop the eco-tourism sector where tourists can experience farmstay feeling. Waking up in the morning, strolling into farm, getting fresh vegetables and fruits, harvesting fresh raw honey for breakfast.

When I left Ray and his team in the evening, this thoughts came to my mind. In this fast pace society, Uganda should not be looking at production level only. Quality plays a vital role as well. This is where I feel financial institution can come in to assist the farmers financially in getting, not the most expensive equipment or tools but the RIGHT and appropriate equipment and tools, where the farmers are more adaptable and able to handle. We should help them with what they are familiar with and fine-tune from there, rather than giving them what we want them to have. Sadly enough, some financial institutions who engaged in such assistance got burned because they were not given the proper direction by the right people, ending up with bad debts. Those giving out the monies do not even understand a single bit of what is on the ground. They just simply wore their grey suit, sitting behind their grey desk, inside their grey office under the grey sky, waiting for their grey papers to be laid on their grey table. They only know how to  engage PAPER, they don’t engage PEOPLE.

Many a times when I moved around the villages, I do come across a lot of “Signboard Projects”. The signboards are there but you don’t see any projects. One reason it could be that the project had ended, so are the equipment. The locals do not know how to use them but since it is free, might as well take it. After which the tools and equipment might had found its way to a nearby market.

Uganda should also start picking up ideas on value adding in order to be more competitive with the rest of the World. Once I met an old man and he shared this with me, “The earth is always revolving forward. We have to keep pace with time and not to stand still. If we were to do that, we are in fact moving backwards”. Interesting analogy.

I felt that I am very blessed to be invited to work with Timothy Centre. It is well organized with an achievable and amazing vision. I can foresee Timothy Centre will be one of the most talk about destination in Uganda once it is fully developed.

“Global Servants in Christian Education”

Gulu – Refinery and collection centre…………………….

Finally the dry spell is over. The weather is getting cooler and the rainy season is coming. Its that time of the year where the villagers start to plant crops again. Going up Gulu with Fischer last two days was refreshing. Same time we look at the progress of the refinery and collection centre. Hopefully it will be ready when the next season comes in April 2010.

This Centre will serve as a meeting point for all the bee farmers around the region. All future honey harvested from our selected bee farmers whom had gone thru our training will be sent to this centre for processing. Come next year I will see myself being split between Timothy Centre which is in the South and Gulu, in the North. I hope I can have the strength to see it thru.