This kind of project has never been here.
Beekeeping is a buzzing business in Karamoja, in north-eastern Uganda. Hive making sessions run by our partner draw large crowds, as people gather to make hives from flexible branches. Weaving the branches into a cylinder and then coating them in cow dung makes a hive. With this climate-friendly business, people have an extra form of income.
Kodet Samuel Mundia is Parish Chief in Lokisilei Parish. He encourages members of the parish to join the hive making sessions. He has hives at home and says local people were very interested in the project.
Local materials
People taking part in the training find the branches to make the hives quite close to their homes.
“The materials are near,” notes Kodet. He says that it can take about an hour for people to collect these branches. After that, it takes one person about an hour to make a hive, or about 30 minutes if there’s a group.
Cow dung is also available nearby, and it has advantages when used on hives. It is a natural cement sealing the hives and it attracts bees.
Communal learning
Our partner, The Uganda National Apiculture Development Organisation (TUNADO) gives this training. It promotes beekeeping as a business, so people they teach can earn extra income.
People learn how to make hives first together, then the next step is “siting.” They put hives at breast level at a tree at their homes. Hives used to be put up high in the trees, but this made beekeeping male dominated. Women were seen as unable to climb the tree to get the hives when the bees arrived in them after three weeks. With the hives at breast level, women can now take part in beekeeping.
Useful
Everyone in the group has a target of making 10 hives. From these, they can sell the products that bees produce, like honey, beeswax and propolis. Propolis is said to have health benefits.
The products are also used at home, as Kodet notes that “honey is good for children” and is used to treat coughs and other illnesses.
People sell honey at the market, but Kodet says that “within the community, some people can request to buy it.”
