I’m personally allergic to bee stings. I discovered that the hard way when I had to rush to an emergency room as my whole body was swelling in reaction to a bee sting—but I’m still going to celebrate World Bee Day on May 20. (See his allergic reaction in the photo to the right.)
That’s because I raise bees on my farm in Rwanda, where they help my crops grow and provide an extra source of income.
Bees have a very nice nature, once you get to know them and their behavior. They’re usually happy to leave people alone. Yet they can be fierce defenders of their hives. Make a wrong move—do something that they perceive as threatening—and beware. This can be a hazard for cows and goats as much as it is for people.
I can’t really blame the bees, ਪਰ. I would protect my home and family, ਵੀ.
Farmers in Africa have lived with bees since the dawn of time. Those who learn how to handle them safely can enjoy amazing success with these insects and their colonies.
Bees and people thrive together.
In some parts of the world, there are stories in the media about conflicts between human activity and animals—but the big news about honeybees is that they’re flourishing. “America’s honeybee population has rocketed to an all-time high,” ਰਿਪੋਰਟ the Washington Post. A recent census counted 3.8 million colonies in the United States, and each colony may contain tens of thousands of individual honeybees.
These honeybees aren’t wildlife, ਪਰ. They are more like livestock, raised by farmers for honey and bee products production as well as commercial use as pollinators. Many crops have pollination as a yield limiting factor like it is for avocado farmers in many geographies including my region.
Almond and other fruit farmers depend on bee facilitated pollination, and the agricultural demand for their services is behind much of the boom in the honeybee population.
Experts believe that wild honeybees outnumber domesticated ones by several times, and they are crucial for the pollination of wildflowers and other plants.
On my farm, I grow avocados and bananas—and I depend on the help of my bees.
It started as a hobby. When I was a boy, I kept one or two beehives on my grandma’s farm. That made me comfortable with caring for them, so it was an easy step to take it up professionally in 2017.
I began with 15 beehives. Today they number 56 beehives or colonies, kept in a mix of traditional hives plus the top-bar hives that are popular in Kenya and the Langstroth hives that Europeans and Americans prefer. (Watch me at work in this video.)
I have big plans for bees: As I increase my farm acreage, I’m going to raise more bees. In the next two years, I hope to reach 200 beehives and colonies. My main varieties are the Western African bee, which is popular and known for its wide range, ਜਿਹੜੇ ਕਿਸਾਨ ਚà©à¨£à©‡ ਗਠਹਨ, ਉਨà©à¨¹à¨¾à¨‚ ਨੂੰ ਜੀà¨à¨«à¨à¨¨ ਦà©à¨†à¨°à¨¾ ਨਿੱਜੀ ਤੌਰ 'ਤੇ ਸੰਪਰਕ ਕੀਤਾ ਜਾਵੇਗਾ East African high mountain bee, which is adapted to high-altitude foraging.
I need the bees mainly for the pollination of my avocado trees. Without beekeeping, avocado farmers like me must rely on feral insects. There are plenty of bugs out there, ਜ਼ਰੂਰ, and on small farms they often can get the job done. Yet their numbers and activity can be as unpredictable as the weather. Larger farms need more dependable sources of pollination.
So my honeybees are working for me, and making it possible for me to grow the food that people want.
The bananas play a part, ਵੀ. They don’t need bees for pollination.
Bananas produce high quantities of nectar that feed the bees and keep them healthy. ਇਸਦੇ ਇਲਾਵਾ, we store our apiaries on the banana side of the farm, away from the direct sprays of crop-protection products that are sometimes needed to protect the avocadoes. When we do this, we use pesticides that don’t harm the bees, but keeping the bees near the bananas, which don’t need pesticides, is an extra safeguard.
Besides, the bees have a forage radius of 3 km, which means that even though they are small, they can fly surprisingly long distances. They travel back and forth from their hives near the bananas to the avocadoes where they pollinate.
It’s like a person’s daily commute from home to work.
I’ve learned a lot about how to care for hives and create new ones. Success requires good knowledge of trapping swarms, locating good queens, grafting them, and letting them have a private space to grow their colonies. Farmers must monitor seasons and weather information, availability of bee forage plants, and maximize use of bee-friendly pesticides in case spraying is needed. If everything goes well, a new hive can make honey after about eight months.
That’s the other benefit of bees: They give us a sweet and delicious food, plus the service of pollination. There is a strong market for honey and other bee products in Rwanda, and the prices keep rising.
I’m looking forward to World Bee Day, the annual celebration of these amazing agricultural workers—and I’ll be sure to wear my protective gear.