Nigeria can generate $10bn from honey, hives

[Yunan]

Nigeria can generate $10bn from honey, hives – USAID official

2017_6$large_Honeycomb.jpg (61.68 KiB) Viewed 16531 times

Mr David Musa, the Team Leader, USAID Bee Keeping Pollination Project, says Nigeria can generate over 10 billion dollars from local and international trade in honey and other hive products.

Musa disclosed this during an interview on the sideline of a Capacity Building Workshop for bee-farmers in Goshen, Nasarawa State on Thursday.

‘‘Honey trade can generate up to 10 billion dollars if you look at cumulative values from honey and other hive products and the value of pollination,’’ he said.

The team leader is also the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Apiculture Platform.

He disclosed that the domestic consumption rate of honey in the country was currently 380,000 tonnes, with a global price of about 4.5 billion dollars.

He stressed the need for the country to get honey export certification from the European Union, adding that it would give credibility to the forthcoming largest Africa Apiculture Trade to be hosted by Nigeria in 2018.

‘‘Nigeria is going to host the largest bee keeping trade in Africa, which is the largest platform that will bring together many bee keeping enterprises.

‘‘It will put Nigeria on the global bee keeping map.

‘‘The EU certificate is one of the highest levels of certification and it is necessary to get that.

‘‘Nigeria consumes about 380,000 tonnes of honey a current global price of about 4.5 billion dollars and that is just domestic consumption of honey; we have not gone into industrial production, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals,’’ he said.

Also speaking, Alhaji Mohammed Mahmud, a bee-farmer and participant at the workshop, commended the Federal Government and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for the workshop.

Mahmud, who is also the House Committee Chairman on Population and National Identity Card, assured that necessary legislation that would drive the bee farming industry would be looked into by the National Assembly.

He said that the Federal Government had made necessary provision in the 2017 budget to establish standard laboratory to test hive products before exportation.

‘‘This programme is coming at the appropriate time because many people do not know about bee farming.

‘‘The workshop has come to educate bee keepers like I, on the techniques, problems and prospects to move the industry and country forward.

‘‘The workshop has come out with the position of looking at all the existing laws that governs the bee industry.

‘‘We want to look at it together and see what changes can be made to make the industry move forward.

‘‘I want to assure you that we will do our best to make sure that necessary legislation for the bee industry will be taken care of.

‘‘Part of the problems that the industry has is trying to set up a laboratory where you can test the product that you want to export and this has been taken care of in the 2017 budget,’’ he said.

Other bee farmers and participants at the workshop expressed regret over the constant neglect of bee farming.

They called for more support from the federal and state governments to make the trade attractive to many farmers.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the workshop is a three-day programme tagged: ‘EU Third Country Listing;’ An Eligibility Criteria to Export Honey to the EU Market. (NAN)


https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/agri ... 03695.html

[Josh123]

How can one start a hive? Any ideas? Tips?

[Yunan]

How can one start a hive? Any ideas? Tips?

Here are some interesting first term accounts

How to start bee farming – Farmer


Pastor Gideon Dagunduro, is an award-winning bee farmer with farms spread across Abuja and Ilorin who has also helped in establishing farms for many people across Nigeria. As a staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Gwagwalada, he organises training for people who seek to go into bee farming. In this interview, he says bee farming offers huge potentials. Excerpts:

As a specialist in bee farming, how can someone who doesn’t have an idea start this business?
I usually tell people who want to venture into bee farming business to seek knowledge and go for training. Because it is better to teach a person how to catch fish than give him fish to eat. I have been in the business of bee keeping for the past 17-18 years and I always advise people that it’s not all about going into bee keeping. After acquiring knowledge, you must make up your mind on the type of business to venture into because the knowledge gained would guide you on how to go about it.


How much is needed to start bee farming?
Bee farming is one of the agricultural enterprises that you can start with little capital; as low as N50,000 but also as high as N5 million or N10 million. The equipment in bee-keeping, like bee hives, are produced locally to help reduce the cost.

How many hectares of land are required to start bee farming?
You don’t need to own land before you start bee farming. You can hire a piece of land or partner with fruit farmers that have citrus and mango trees because you are doing them a favour by putting your hives there. As we know, bees are agents of pollination and by putting your hives there - the bees will pollinate the fruits trees, which will assist the farmers to double their harvests.

What are the basic rules to successful bee farming?
The first thing is to have basic knowledge because you don’t give what you don’t have. Good management of bees is also paramount; you need to manage your pairing very well. In the aspect of hives construction, it must be to the target and finally, you must have a very good location.
I usually tell people there are conditions for siting the hives; you just don’t put it anywhere. It must not be close to the road side because of noise and then one must avoid areas where pesticides or insecticides are used.
The box must not be placed on a mashing ground; it must be a little bit dry. Don’t put them on swampy areas because the bees have their body temperature. So you have to be very careful on that. Again, one must note that when siting the hives, it must be close to the source of their food source. Don’t put them in the desert because bees travel as far as three kilometres to get their food.
But we are so blessed in Nigeria with food plants. We have about two hundred plants that can give bees food, unlike the temperate countries that don’t have some of these plants.
It must be close to source of water because bees drink water too. The food of bees depends on nectar and pollen and as a bee farmer, you must ensure that your hives are close to where there is nectar and pollen.

What quantity of honey can a farmer get from a bee hive?
You can get up to 10-15 litres of honey per hive.
Are there marketing constraints with bee products?
As am talking to you, I have been asked to supply 5,000 litres of honey in Ghana, but I cannot meet the demand. That is why we are trying to bring many people into bee the farming business. I have acquired five different hectares of land and anybody who is interested in the business can apply and pay little amount to keep his box there.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/agri ... 05370.html

I register for a bee keeping training. Once in a while they advertise. That way you can get proper knowledge of what you are getting into.
There are other people who depend on wild honey. That one is surely not sustainable and depends on local gatherers to source. Moreso with prevailing insecurity venturing into the bush in search of wild honey is not recommended