Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The recent spate of health consciousness in Ghana has created a big market
for honey as a sugar substitute. However, typically, the honey from wild sources is
of poor quality because of crude methods of harvesting, extraction, and handling.
Its supply is also uncertain.
To ensure a more reliable source of honey, some farmers in rural areas
have adopted beekeeping on their farmlands. This is rapidly gaining ground in the
forest and savanna woodland zones of Ghana as a means of generating income
from conserved forests.
The African honeybee, which is cultured in Ghana, belongs to the species
Apis
mellifera adansonii
. It is smaller than the temperate races of
A. mellifera
, but has
a longer proboscis and is a more flexible forager. This makes it potentially more
efficient at honey production than its temperate counterparts (Adjaloo and
Yeboah-Gyan, 1991). However, this potential is yet to be tapped because apicul-
ture based on this strain is not well researched and developed (Oppong, 1991).
Furthermore, the African honeybee is temperamental, ferocious, and prone to
absconding, which makes it more difficult to manage (Adjare, 1991).
The governments of Africa generally and Ghana in particular recognize the
economic value of honey and have identified apiculture as a relatively low-input
income-generation system for improving rural livelihoods. Ghana's Ministry of
Agriculture made the maiden attempt at developing beekeeping in Ghana in the
early 1960s with the introduction of several colonies of temperate honeybee
races. However, none of the colonies survived. Therefore beekeeping was shelved
until 1978 when, with the help of some literature from Kenya, Dr J. W. Palmer,
the then director of the Technology Development Centre of Ghana, took steps to
revive it. Since the late 1980s beekeeping has steadily gained popularity, and
more sophisticated production systems have also been introduced.
Beekeeping practices in the rural areas
Traditional systems for beekeeping include the use of large earthenware pots
(Plate 13). The hollow pot, which houses the honeycombs, is provided with
a tight cover and an entrance hole for the bees. The baited or colonized pot is
placed on a stand under forest shade, preferably close to a source of water. In
areas removed from natural water sources, the beekeeper provides a constant sup-
ply of clean potable water in a bowl.
Other indigenous apicultural systems practised in rural areas in Ghana include
the use of dugout logs, specially woven baskets, kerosene tins, and mats of
thatched corn stalks formed into a cylinder and provided with a tight-fitting lid
bearing an entrance hole for the bees. These structures are baited with bee wax,
palm wine, perfume, cow dung, lemon grass, or other suitable substances, and
exposed in tree boughs or on supports in the forest for colonization by wild bees.
Under suitable environmental conditions, colonization occurs with ease. Where
