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“I first heard about bee farming in a radio programme. After that, I started using a few local hives. My first harvest, that time we sold in these rural village market. From my first sales, I realized money and bought clothes for myself. From that day I started seeing the benefit. The second time I bought a goat. That motivated me to go into beekeeping. Since that time I have continued with bee keeping.”
The Life as Beekeeper
Who belongs to your family / who is living with you?
I am married. I have wedded my wife and I have …..5 biological children plus those for the extended family, that is 3 plus 2….plus another 2 orphans, so we are 14.
How has beekeeping changed your life?
From bee keeping, after I started selling and getting money from selling in good quantities, I have been able to raise some money that has enabled me to educate some of my children to some level. So, bee keeping has benefited me that way.
How do you provide a good environment for your bees?
For these bees I have planted caliandra trees. I sometimes cultivate sunflower nearby. Then there is a nearby water source. During the dry season, I provide them water in the apiary. So, that is how I make the environment good for my bees.
What do trees mean to you and how can they be protected?
To me trees like the caliandra that I have planted help my bees. Caliandra flowers are good. It ensures good honey, and heavy. And these caliandra trees last for long. They become self-propagating. Sometimes they grow so thick and you have to prune them and they continue to spread. So plus other types of trees, they are really important. I don’t allow people to cut those trees near my home because they help my bees.
That is how I protect them. I also created fire line around my apiary. Recently, that helped me stop a huge fire. So, trees are important.
What is the most important thing in your life?
The most important thing in my life is my faith. I work together in a church community. I have a strong faith in God, so I have strong attachment to my local church.
What are your biggest challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?
My biggest challenge is the way to grow my bee keeping business, to produce big volumes for a better market. So, it is the lack of capital.
My plan to overcome this…ehh…it is really to scale this project and my farming business so that I become a big producer and get more money to raise capital.
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I read the Bible. Yes…., I am a strong Christian.
Which place would you like to see once?
………hahaaa………I would select two things, church work and farming. And in farming my first choice is bee keeping. And I would want to reach a place outside where people keep bees on a large scale. I don’t know if they are there in Uganda or not, but I would like to see that kind of place.……yeah….
