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“Beekeepers near my home motivated me to do beekeeping on a large scale. I plan to have at least 500 colonized hives in 2 years’ time.”
The Life as Beekeeper
Who belongs to your family / who is living with you?
I am married and we have one child. My young brother is also living with us.
How has beekeeping changed your life?
I am a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in animal science. One of the course units was Apiculture at Makerere University. I have 106 modern hives. 95% are colonized and I usually harvest 200 -300 kgs of honey. Through beekeeping I have been able to pay part of my school fees and I could cater for basic needs at home.
Also, I can pay for my young brother´s school fees. My brother too is engaged in beekeeping though he is 12 years old. He can harvest, inspect and manage the apiary.
I have expanded my apiary by buying more beehives and a piece of land.
How do you provide a good environment for your bees?
I planted trees to provide flowers for the bees. He constructed a shade or bee house with iron sheets making it easy to control pests. I am doing queen rearing which is something that I have learnt in Germany from a beekeeper training over there.
What do trees mean to you and how can they be protected?
Trees provide us with shade. and they influence our climate. They provide flowers which is good food for my bees.
What is the most important thing in your life?
Being healthy is what I consider most important in life.
What are your biggest challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?
Pests like the beetles and wax moth. I have constructed a shade to control the pests and I also increased the number of times for inspection of hives. N need more modern beehives to expand the apiary and increase production.
Sometimes the climate change affects the yields. I have started feeding the bees with cassava flour, water, sugar syrup and planted drought resistant shrubs and trees like caliandra trees.
Prices for our honey locally are very low and yet the honey quality is good so we need better market. I have tried to look for better market in Kampala.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy watching soccer.
Which place would you like to see once?
Traveling to France would be a great thing.
