BEEKEEPING
TRAINING
MANUAL
2018
Compiled by
Joseph N Mushonga (PhD)
FOREWORD
This training manual gives a solid background to apiculture as an important community
livelihood activity and its contribution to biodiversity sustainability in terms of domestic
crops and wild flora. The manual covers considerations or principles needed when
engaging into beekeeping activities. Resources and integrated management skills
required in coming up with successful beekeeping projects are also highlighted. These
include conducive environments and intellectual skills necessary for easy operation of
beekeeping business.
Food security has become a challenge in Zimbabwe which requires to come up
with sustainable solutions to address it. The document shares how apiculture bridges
the gap in addressing food insecurity, poverty as well as nutritional needs of rural
communities. Beekeeping in Zimbabwe is in its developing stages with the need to
come up with standard training programs. The manual provides the basic standards
for training beekeepers all over Zimbabwe.
Community Technology Development Organization invests in research and
development that assists rural smallholder farmers to be productive, profitable and
sustainable. Therefore this manual brings together available basic information about
the craft of keeping bees and honey bee bio-security. It will provide a strong platform
for beginner beekeepers to grow their hobby and provide a useful foundation for
beekeepers contemplating beekeeping as a sideline or full-time commercial enterprise
This manual was not designed to replace the knowledge and experience of
beekeepers but is intended to serve as a reference guide on how to produce healthy
and clean honey.
Bee keeping 1
Table of Contents
FOREWORD...............................................................................................................................1
PART I: Introduction/Background to Apiculture...............................................................3
a) Importance of Beekeeping...................................................................................4
PARTll: FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN STARTING APICULTURE............................................5
a) Site selection for beehives........................................................................................5
i. Beehive Placement..................................................................................................5
ii. Safety from wildfires..................................................................................................5
iii. Avoid excess moisture..............................................................................................5
iv. Protection from winds...............................................................................................5
v. Easy Access..............................................................................................................6
b) Vegetation necessary for Apiculture......................................................................6
c) Flowers favored by Honey Bees............................................................................6
PART lll: Bee Collection.........................................................................................................9
a) Swarm Identification and Collection Methods.......................................................9
b) How do you identify a swarm................................................................................10
c) How do you catch Honey Bees...........................................................................10
PART lV: Hive Placement and Hive Management............................................................11
a) Traditional Hives.....................................................................................................11
b) Kenyan Top Bar Hive (K.T.B.H)................................................................................12
c) Langstroth Frame....................................................................................................12
Management Kit for Beekeeping........................................................................13
PART V. Pests and Diseases Management........................................................................17
a) Diseases which attach bees................................................................................19
Part VI: Harvesting and Processing...................................................................................19
PART Vll. Value Addition (Secondary Products)................................................................20
PART Vlll. Record Keeping....................................................................................................22
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................24
References.............................................................................................................................24
2 Bee keeping
PART I: Introduction/Background to Apiculture
Beekeeping or apiculture (Apiculture, from Latin apis.bee) is the practice of keeping
and/or studying honey bee colonies, in hives by individuals or communities. Beekeeping
can be undertaken by men or women or even the youths as a hobby or as a business
venture. A beekeeper or an apiarist keeps bees for the purposes of honey and wax
collection, crop and tree pollination, in some cases to breed bees for sale to other
keepers. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary.
Bees are very fascinating important creatures in the life chain of human beings
world over. Their products have wider consumer preference and play and provide
sustainable livelihoods amongst small scale farmers (Hilmi, Bradbear and Mejia 2011).
Many beekeepers in Zimbabwe inherited the beekeeping business from their fore
fathers as they recognized the importance of beekeeping due to the benefits of the
bee products and their functions in their lives.
Many communities used to harvest honey in the wild from tree holes, underground
hives before they realized the need to domesticate bees through the use of traditional
hives such as tree buck hives, clay pots and hives made out of grass.
With the advent of science and modern technology new systems were introduced. The
pioneer to undertake beekeeping extension was Papadopoulos in1962. During that
time very few people kept bees probably due to lack of advisors and the Zimbabwean
bee Apis Melliffferrra adannsonii was regarded as aggressive(Papadopoulo,1974).
In Zimbabwe beekeeping is in its infant stages and is mostly done by small holder
farmers. Major areas of honey production include Midlands, Mashonaland West and
Manicaland provinces.
Table 1: Number of Beekeepers and Honey Production as at 2014
Province Number of Number of Honey Production Wax
Beekeepers Hives (kg) Production
(kg)
Midlands 7535 40663 2152 0
Manicaland 1817 11557 20838 660
Mashonaland West 2030 21424 35480 28.7
Mashonaland East 1615 2877 4939 824
Masvingo 1015 2718 1250 0
Mashonaland Central 1239 5343 3361 153.5
Mat. North 642 1029 1115 0
Mat. South 24 183 595 0
TOTAL 15967 85794 69730 1666.2
Source: Agritex records 2014
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Despite the high potential in the beekeeping sector, there are many challenges which
include, veld fires, lack of modern hives, poor markets, lack of financial support, limited
skills, pests and diseases. The sector also faces challenges of adequate extension
support as a result of lack of training.
Apiculture in Zimbabwe dates back to as early as the 18th Century. Evidence of
beekeeping is shown by the rock paintings in the Matopo hills (Crane, 1990). During
the early years Zimbabwean communities used to collect honey in the wild. Bees
make honey in the caves, hollows of trees, holes made by white ants in the ground,
cliffs and in trees. The local people used to light fires to smoke the bees as well as
burning them to remove them from the hives to reach honey. They also used toxic
smoke from poisonous trees and bushes and rubber smoke in harvesting honey. This
method proved to be unsustainable as colonies would abscond and habitats were
destroyed. These harvesting methods would also create veld fires which would destroy
biodiversity. Consequently communities sooner realized the importance of beekeeping
and they devised new methods to attract and domesticate bees through modifying
the traditional methods of keeping bees.
a) Importance of Beekeeping
Beekeeping is very important for the livelihood of humans and biodiversity. Beekeeping
is important for crop production as the bees play a vital role in crop cross pollination.
Beekeeping is an aerial activity which does not compete for space with cultivation
of crops. In fact, it completes productivity of crops through crop pollination by bees
(Conrad, 2007), as cited by Chazovachii, Chuma, Mushuku, Chirenje, Chitongo and
Mudyariwa (2012). Crop production has been enhanced as bees move pollen from
one plant to another of the same species, thus addressing food and nutrition security
as yield is enhanced. Bees have helped the improvement of the diversification of plant
species as more seeds are produced through bee cross pollinations which will result in
the dispersal of seeds.
Honey production can be an important consideration in food security and poverty
reduction of a nation, especially for the rural population.
4 Bee keeping
For full copy, request from jackie@ctdt.co.zw
Community Technology Development Organisation
286 Northway
Prospect
Waterfalls
Harare
Zimbabwe
Tel.:+263242-576091/589242/576108
