“25 years ago, I saw people doing beekeeing and getting money, so I also started. I started with 12 hives but now I have 69 hives.“
My Life as Beekeeper
Who belongs to your family / who is living with you?
I am a widower and am living with my 6 children.
How has bee keeping changed your life?
When I started beekeeping on commercial scale, I started earning big money, then bought land and built a better house for the family, paid school fees for my children especially now I have a girl at the university.
How do you provide a good environment for your bees?
I have planted caliandra trees which are very good for the bees. They flower throughout the year and the apiary has water source of the swamp.
What do trees mean to you and how can they be protected?
Trees provide the shade for the hives, they provide bee forage, we get rain because of them.
What is the most important thing in your life?
Seeing my children all study up to university is the most important thing in my life.
What are your biggest challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?
One challenge is the swarming of bees from beehives trying to create more shade to reduce heat.
Pests like beetles are another challenge as well as wax moth. I am planning to increase hive inspection to make sure they do not harm the bees. Finally, I am lacking modern hives to increase production. I am planning to start buying them in small quantities.
What do like to do in your free time?
I like spending time in the apiary seeing my bees.
Which place would you like to see once?
I would like to travel to the US.