Beekeeping
Practical Action
Bees need a supply of food and water to live, and during dry periods the beekeeper may have to
supplement natural sources. As a general rule, attempts to begin beekeeping should start with
the area's existing bees, techniques, and equipment, which will all have been adapted for the
local circumstances.
Equipment
Most of the equipment needed for small-
scale beekeeping can be made at village
level. It can be helpful to import basic
equipment to serve as prototypes for local
manufacturers. For practising on a large
scale, some specialised equipment will
probably need to be bought, such as honey
gates, special filtering gauze, and gauges
to determine honey quality.
Smoker
A beekeeper uses a smoker to produce
cool smoke to calm the bees. The smoker
consists of a fuel box containing
smouldering fuel (for example dried cow
dung, hessian, or cardboard) with a
bellows attached. The beekeeper puffs a
little smoke near the entrance of the hive
before it is opened, and gently smokes the
bees to move them from one part of the
hive to another.
The ends of
the front and
rear panels
are nailed to
the side
panels
Protective clothing
Adequate protective clothing gives
beginner beekeepers confidence, but more
experienced beekeepers find that too
much protective clothing makes it difficult
to work sufficiently gently with the bees,
and it is very hot. Always wear white or
light-coloured clothing when working with
bees - they are much more likely to sting
dark-coloured clothing. It is most
important to protect the face, especially
the eyes and mouth; a broad-rimmed hat
with some veiling will suffice. Individual
items of clothing must be impermeable to
bee stings, and every joint between them
must be bee-tight; rubber bands can
prevent bees from crawling up trouser legs
or shirtsleeves. Some people find that a
good way to protect their hands is to put a
plastic bag over each hand, secured at the
wrist with a rubber band.
Hive tools
The hive tool is a handy piece of metal
which is used to prise boxes apart, scrape
off odd bits of beeswax, separate frame-
ends from their supports, and so on. They
can be made from pieces of flat steel, and
screwdrivers are often used. It is possible
Mark out and
cut triangular
entrance
holes 2.5cm
wide by
2.5cm deep
in the front
panel, then
nail the top
to the base.
The top bars
must be built
accurately. You
will need to cut
27 of them and
the ends (a)
must be shaped
to the angle of
the sides of the
hive.
The 27 top bars should fit without any gaps or spaces
Figure 2: A Kenya top-bar hive. This hive is
suitable for African bees, but may need adjusting
for Asian or European use. Any wood that is
resistant to sun and rain and will not warp is
suitable. (Drawing from Beekeeping for Beginners
(1989) courtesy of GRATIS)
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