Money flows into Byenkya’s pockets thanks to honey

										Money flows into Byenkya’s pockets thanks to honey
Monday, 18th April, 2011
Byenkya reorganising his beehive which has not yet been colonised By Pascal Kwesiga FRANCIS Byenkya had been struggling to earn a living through charcoal burning for 16 years until he tried beekeeping in 2005. “I would be better off today had I started keeping bees at the time I started burning charcoal. We have destroyed the environment,” laments Byenkya, a resident of Rwbahura village in Kimengo sub-county in Masindi district. He is among a group of farmers who were trained in beekeeping by Masindi District Farmers Association (MADIFA) in 2004. After the training, Byenkya bought 60 locally made beehives in 2005 each at sh3,000 and placed them in strategic points on his farm to trap the bees. MADIFA also gave the farmers three modern Kenya Top Bar hives to use for demonstration purposes. Byenkya now has 150 beehives on his farm, most of which are colonised. He gets an average of 30 20-litre jerrycans of honey in the main season between March and April and less in the second season between September and October every year. In the last season, he sold 30 jerrycans at sh150,000 each and earned sh4.5m. Using the proceeds from honey, he has built a six-room permanent house and bought 30 head of cattle, three years since he embarked on bee keeping. “I sell 20 litters of milk everyday and my family consumes 10 litres,” Byenkya says. His children go to good boarding schools in Kampala and Hoima districts. “I plan to educate my children up to the level they want. I am able to plan today because I get money to do so, unlike in the recent past,” Byenkya adds. When he told this neighbours he was trying his hand at beekeeping on a commercial purpose, they did not believe there was market for honey. “When I bought a motorcycle and cattle, they said I had another source of income somewhere. They realised honey was my source of income when I started constructing my house,” Byenkya says. Impressed by his achievements, the residents organised themselves in a group, Rwabahura Nature Beekeepers Association, to encourage others to follow suit. “We have 30 members,” Byenkya adds. Deo Katerega, another beekeeper in Kijambura village in Nyangahya division, Masindi municipality, gets between 40 to 50 litres of honey on average each season. Katerega has also constructed a permanent house and is educating his children. How to get bees in the hive Byenkya puts honey in a catcher box and places it in a strategic area where he can easily catch the bees. After the bees have entered the box, he removes the wax and bees and transfers them to the main beehive. “After transferring the bees and wax, I take back the catcher box to its position to catch more bees. Sometimes, the bees enter directly into the main beehive,” Byenkya says. How to feed bees Byenkya has planted flowers on his farm for the bees to extract nectar. Bees process the nectar to produce food. He also places jerrycans of water next to the beehives as the bees use water to produce honey. Future plans He plans to set up a honey house with other farmers where they can keep their honey after processing it. They believe it will also serve as a storage facility as they look for better market. Byenkya also wants to buy more beehives and expand his project. He also wants to establish a garden of flowers for the bees. “Sometimes bees get out of the hives to look for food far away and do not come back. But if you give them food, they will stay around and produce honey for you,” he says. Challenges The biggest challenge facing beekeepers in Masindi is the lack of market. “The people who buy our honey are exploiting us because they buy at the price they want,” Katerega says. He adds that pests attack the beehives and the beekeepers lack technical people to provide them with extension services.