| Bee keeping and honey processing are age-old | | | | may capture a newly settled swarm around the |
| income-generating activities. Below is a taste of | | | | branch of a tree by driving the bees into a small |
| how you too can dip into the sweet jar of | | | | hive held underneath the swarm using a bee |
| honey-processing profits. | | | | brush or smoke. First sprinkle the bees with cold |
| First, you will have to select the type of hive you | | | | water to prevent them from moving away and |
| wish to use in your bee keeping business. The | | | | make sure you wear protective clothing. |
| two main hives are the Kenya Top-Bar Hive | | | | Harvesting of honey should be done at night or |
| (KTBH) and the Langstroth hive. The KTBH has | | | | late in the evening when it is cold to avoid stinging. |
| been used extensively by small-farmers because | | | | Wear a veiled helmet, overalls, gloves and boots, |
| it is easy to build, practical and low cost to obtain | | | | gently open the hive then either sweep the bees |
| and maintain than the Langstroth hive. The hive | | | | off the combs and guide them back into the hive |
| can be built using locally available inexpensive | | | | or inject a puff of smoke into the hive. Only |
| materials such as scrap lumber, woven from cane | | | | harvest the ripe combs which are two-thirds full |
| or reeds, formed from cement blocks or adobe, | | | | of honey and sealed or capped. Cut the comb off |
| or you may even employ old, discarded oil drums | | | | the top-bar, leaving about 1cm of comb so that |
| for the hive bodies. The design of the KTBH (an | | | | the bees will be able to rebuild correctly. Do not |
| inverted trapezoid when seen in cross-section) | | | | take out the combs with brood as they contain |
| allows the bees to maintain the natural shape of | | | | the young ones. Leave approximately one-third of |
| their comb, as well as allowing for easy inspection, | | | | the honey combs in the hive to feed the colony. |
| control of swarming and monitoring of the quality | | | | Place the combs in clean dry container and cover. |
| of honey. More wax is also produced because the | | | | Before closing the hive, push the unripe combs |
| combs have to be cut from the frame when | | | | next to the combs with brood and place |
| harvesting. | | | | harvested frames behind these. |
| Position the hive near a water source in a quiet | | | | Honey should be processed immediately after |
| area with adequate vegetation, and fenced away | | | | extraction using clean and dry equipment. |
| from people and animals. Hanging the hive off the | | | | Cut-comb honey consists of pieces of comb from |
| ground at about waist-level allows it to be | | | | sealed and undamaged honeycomb, which are cut |
| comfortably manipulated from behind without | | | | into neat portions and packaged for sale. Since |
| having to bend or squat, while also protecting | | | | the honey in the comb is untouched, it's regarded |
| bees from predators such as toads, scorpions and | | | | as being pure, has a finer flavor, and therefore |
| ants. Position it beneath tree canopies to protect | | | | fetches a high price. When processing strained |
| from intense sun and enable the bees to focus on | | | | honey, use a hot rod or knife to de-cap the |
| collecting nectar instead of water to cool the hive. | | | | combs. Place the de-capped comb on a piece of |
| This will increase honey yields and also make the | | | | fine white linen tied over the top of a plastic |
| bees less irritable during harvesting. Locate the | | | | container - the de-capped side facing downwards. |
| hive about 30 meters away from roads and noisy | | | | Allow the honey to drip through the linen until the |
| public places. | | | | cells are empty. Turn the comb over and repeat |
| There are two ways of populating a hive:o Baiting. | | | | the process. Once processed, bottle the honey in |
| Use a small hive that has previously been | | | | clean dry glass or plastic jars with well sealed lids |
| inhabited by bees and fill it with frames or | | | | and label with the date of harvest then store in a |
| top-bars containing combs or strips of old comb. | | | | cool place. |
| Position it away from wind once the swarm has | | | | With these few tips, you can now release |
| occupied it. This is useful only in the swarming | | | | yourself from the slavery of empty pockets and |
| season usually at the beginning of the dry season | | | | venture into the Promised Land that overflows |
| and at the end of a cold season.o Capturing. You | | | | with honey-processing profits. |