Beekeeping describes the skill of keeping bees for income and food. Beekeeping offers a good opportunity for farmers to start up a small-scale business. Bees produce several products including honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and venom, which all have various applications. The demand for bee products is increasing at the national and international level.

At the end of this module, the farmer should be able to:

• Understand good management practices for Honey production
• Acquire knowledge on improving Honey productivity
• Receive knowledge on post-harvest handling of Honey

The yield from a beekeeping enterprise depends entirely on the way bees are managed. Therefore, farmers should actively be involved in the activities of bees. They should know, what the bees are doing or planning to do at all times. Proper monitoring and quick intervention are keys to successful beekeeping.

A successful beekeeping and honey production depend on

• Proper establishment and maintenance of the apiary
• Proper harvesting and processing of honey and wax.
• Selection of appropriate sites,
• providing appropriate foraging areas,
• filling empty hives,
• working with suitable equipment and tools,
•  avoiding disturbances from humans and animals,
• keeping the apiary clean,
• ensuring proper management of pests, diseases and other nuisances

• Protect the hives from intense sun by placing them under shade trees, or by placing shade materials on top of the hives.
• Protect the hives from wind by placing flight entrances away from the prevailing winds. If this is not possible, plant or construct wind breaks around the apiary.
•  Protect the hives from toads, snakes, domestic animals, ants, termites and other invaders by placing them 1.5 m above ground nicely secured with wire.
• Protect the hives from rain by placing them at an angle such that the flight entrance is at least 1 cm below the rear of the bottom board. This prevents water from flowing into the hive. Also avoid placing hives very close to water bodies to avoid extreme humidity.
• Bees should be kept 100 m away from settlements, livestock and busy roads in forest areas, 200 m away in shrubby areas and 300 m away in open areas.

A hive can made from natural materials such as wood, bark, clay and mud or a basket.

Three major types of hives commonly used in beekeeping

• Fixed comb hives
•  Removable comb hives with top-bars
• Removable comb hives with frames

• Beekeeping can be done by either moving with the bee colonies to places with flowering plants, or by keeping the bees in a fixed apiary.

In migratory beekeeping the beekeeper transports the bee colonies to locations where flowering plants are present. This practice is encouraged in areas where the bee forage is spread over a large area of land. The migratory practice allows the beekeeper to harvest honey more than twice a year and thus to yield more honey.

Bees can also be kept in a permanent bee yard called an apiary. The apiary is set up in a location with a permanent supply of flowering plants and water throughout the life cycle of the bee colonies, with easy access but also hidden in order to avoid hives from being stolen. This requires careful selection of the location. The number of bee colonies or hives should depend on the amount of pollen and nectar available.

• Beehives must be made with great care, ensuring that there are no openings apart from the flight entrance to ensure protection from robber bees.

• Ordinarily, bees should occupy hives on their own. However, the farmer can encourage quick occupation by creating suitable conditions for the bees to move in or by placing a well baited small hive - what is known as a bait hive - in a suitable place.
• Bait hives also attract a bee colony that wants to swarm. Besides using old combs, aromatic substances can be used for baiting. Orange, lemon or lemon grass oil can be rubbed onto the interior surfaces of the hive, or the melted wax from a burning beeswax candle is dripped along top-bars or rubbed onto the interior surfaces. The residue of the beeswax rendering process, known as slum gum, is also a useful attractant.
• It is recommended to put a comb with honey into the new hive in order to feed the bees in the first days.

• Ensure safety by wearing proper protective clothing before working with bees.
•  If it is in an easily accessible, smoke or sprinkle the swarm with cool water to make the bees more docile.
• Shake or brush the swarm into a suitable collecting material such as a swarm box, a basket or a box.
• Move the swarm immediately and shake them into an empty hive.