Hello from Belgium, planning to start in Africa!

[afrobee]

Hello beekeepers of all nations, greetings from Belgium!

I am a total "newbee", but have always been fascinated by beekeeping (and by "social animals" in general).

My background is in the social sciences, with a focus on rural development in Central Africa.

I think beekeeping can contribute much to improving rural livelihoods there, so this is why I want to learn as much as I can about it.

I'm glad to have found this forum with its wealth of info.

Cheers,
Afrobee

[Wax Moth]

Where in Africa?  Are you going to learn some skills and knowledge before you go? That would be great.  In many parts of Africa people so poor that they can't afford foundation or building fancy hives, but they get fantastic honey through building top bar hives (that look a bit like coffins on legs) that can work well without foundation. In South Africa they sell small plastic capsules of honey cheap enough so it can be an every day treat.

Good to look on the top bar hive websites and also to look at Bees for Development.

[afrobee]

Hi Wax Moth, thanks for the advice, yes I had heard about cheap top bar hives, but I need to learn a lot about different beekeeping technologies.

My focus is on problematic zones in dirt-poor countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo (world's poorest country), the Central African Republic and South Sudan. People there have difficulty bringing agricultural goods to market, because infrastructures are so poor. Transport costs are therefor very high. Honey is a highly valuable product, fetching a good price, so these high transportation costs might be partially offset and honey might seriously improve rural livelihoods.

I also have an exclusive idea to produce the world's most exclusive honey, but I will tell more about this later!  ;)

Are you active in Africa yourself?

[johnnybigfish]

Hi Afrobee, and welcome to the forums!!
You're in the right place for bee information! (All kinds of information for that matter)
I dont know much about Belgium except that Belgium is known for breeding some fantastic Racing pigeons. I have also heard of a Belgium Shepherd. Also, I think my great grampa was from belgium, now that i think of it..We always thought he was from Poland.
your friend,
john

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beestopbarhives.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfoundationless.htm

[eivindm]

Hi!  You will find a lot of great info here in this forum!  Running for several years by now, you will find loads of info using the search feature.

In addition to what you find here, maybe this site can be of interest?
http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/

On my own beekeeping news site, you can find news from newspapers and and other news sources about bees and beekeeping in Africa under the Africa category


Good luck, and welcome to this forum!

[eri]

Welcome!

I found this site to be very informative:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

http://www.fao.org/documents/advanced_s_result.asp?QueryString=bees&search=Search

[afrobee]

Hi Afrobee, and welcome to the forums!!
You're in the right place for bee information! (All kinds of information for that matter)
I dont know much about Belgium except that Belgium is known for breeding some fantastic Racing pigeons. I have also heard of a Belgium Shepherd. Also, I think my great grampa was from belgium, now that i think of it..We always thought he was from Poland.
your friend,
john

Hi Johnnybigfish,
thanks for welcoming me. Yep, Belgium is an OK country: beer, waffles, chocolates, and apparently racing pigeons too.  :)
But then, we have CCD too, so we're not that exceptional!

There has been a period in the late 19th century of migrations from Eastern Europe to Belgium, so perhaps your great grandpa was a Pole who moved to Belgium?

In any case, thx for the welcome,
Afrobee

[afrobee]

Link
Link

Hey Michael Bush, thanks, I'm checking this info out. Looks very interesting!

[afrobee]

Hi!  You will find a lot of great info here in this forum!  Running for several years by now, you will find loads of info using the search feature.

In addition to what you find here, maybe this site can be of interest?
link

On my own beekeeping news site, you can find news from newspapers and and other news sources about bees and beekeeping in Africa under the Africa category.


Good luck, and welcome to this forum!

Wow, eivindm, what a neat website. I will certainly bookmark it, as it seems to contain updated info on beekeeping in Africa.
Keep up the great work.

PS: yes, Wax Moth also referred to "beesfordevelopment", which seems to be a key resource for my case.

[afrobee]

Welcome!

I found this site to be very informative:

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Hi eri, thx for the welcome,
FAO has good stuff indeed. Thx for the reference.
Cheers,
Afrobee

[Cindi]

Afrobee.  Welcome to our forum.  This will be the place that you can read, tell us your stories and tales, spend awesome and wholesome time, this can be a wealth of learning for you.  You are up to some interesting stuff, and that is great and wonderful.  Have the best of a great and beautiful day, Cindi