Tunanukye's pocket tastes the sweetness of honey

BEST FARMERS |

Honey is one of the sweetest substances and for George Tunanukye, the sweetness has gone beyond the mouth to his pockets.

Tunanukye, 53, is a beekeeper in Kamwenge district.  With only 6 acres of land that he inherited from his grandfather, he started beekeeping in 1996 with only eight local hives.

"I was inspired into apiary by my grandfather, we used to have beehives in our gardens and the honey we would produce was just for home consumption," says Tunanukye.

How he started

Tunanukye, 53 explains that his passion for beekeeping started when he was in primary school in the 1980s. He used to harvest honey in the wild. One day he saw his grandfather in the village making local beehives.

"I learnt making beehives from my grandfather and by primary seven I had already set up three beehives in the family forest in Kamwenge sub-county," he says.

Tunanukye says he first harvested about three litres of honey but the business collapsed when he failed to balance between studies and apiary farming.

When he eventually completed his studies, he started bee farming afresh and increased the hives to 20. This became his key source of income.

He says after graduation in 1996 he did not go to look for jobs but made eight local beehives.

For each harvest, he would get only 8litres of honey but he never gave up.

"People started laughing at me but I did not give up. I increased the number of hives to 17," he says.  Eventually, the entire family joined the business.

Training

With the increased demand for honey, Tunanukye decided to acquire more skills, so he trained with the private sector foundation, Kabarole office. "I applied the knowledge into my apiary project that had started to grow and soon, the performance improved," he says.

In 2004, he became a full-time apiary farmer. He started collaborating with development partners such as National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) and the trade ministry who also offered him training.

Now he owns a total of 350 beehives spread across Kamwenge district with 15 at his home.

Best practices

Tunanukye notes that it is important to set up beehives in different places in order for them to access the natural flowers. This way, one is able to harvest good quality honey.

Proper management of bees during the dry season starts with apiary site selection.

One should consider the following when selecting a site for a good apiary which will not be affected by the weather conditions:

"There should be a nearby source of water and enough trees to serve as windbreaks. This is because high wind speed causes a reduction in flight and also distorts the flight direction thus reducing foraging activity," he says.

Tunanukye advises beekeepers to bear in mind that climate change is real and dealing with the dry period starts with setting the apiary near a place with plants that yield pollen and nectar for the bees.

At the entry into his apiary in Kamwenge, a disclaimer by NARO which reads; ‘do not make unnecessary noise, be careful bees can harm you, bees are busy' reminds one that bees do well in a silent environment.

"Bees don't want noise, they concentrate much on making honey while in a very silent place and they don't like intruders since they can charge and sting," Tunanukye says.

"Bees should also be given water if the water source is very far, they shouldn't travel to distant places looking for water and nectar," he says.

Tunanukye has planted crops and trees that yield good pollen and nectar (bee forage). Plants that are a good source of nectar include; Tamarind, Moringa, Neem, Eucalyptus, and Bottlebrush while sorghum, sweet potato, millet, coconut, roses, castor, pomegranate, and date palm are good for pollen. Plants such as Banana, Peach, Citrus, Guava, Sunflower, Mango, among others are good for both nectar and pollen.

Harvesting

There are two seasons in which honey is harvested, June - September season which is a major season, and January - March.

During the major season, Tunanukye harvests between 500 and 1000 litres and between 200 to 300 litres in the minor season.

"We harvest more honey between June and September, that's the main season and in January during the hot season, we harvest little honey," he says.

Further training and improvements

In 2004 he went for a training facilitated by the East African beekeepers association where he learnt that there is another type of hives called Langstroth that can generate more honey because it can be harvested every week.

He says he bought 40 Langstroth bee hives and placed them on his land and by 2006 he had 78 beehives from which he would harvest every after two months. A Langstroth hive costs around sh150,000.  He currently has over 300 hives.

Best practices

He notes that it is important to set up beehives in different places in order for them to access the natural flowers and this way one is able to harvest good quality honey at an increased quantity.

Proper management of bees during dry season starts with apiary site selection. One should consider the following when selecting a site for a good apiary which will not be affected by the weather conditions," he says.

"There should be a nearby source of water and enough trees to serve as windbreaks. This is because high wind speed causes reduction in flight and also distorts the flight direction thus reducing foraging activity."

He advises beekeepers to bear in mind that climate change is real and dealing with the dry period starts with setting the apiary near a place with plants that yield pollen and nectar for the bees.

At the entry into his apiary in Kamwenge, a disclaimer by NARO which reads; ‘do not make unnecessary noise, be careful bees can harm you bees are busy' reminds one that bees do well in a silent environment.

"Bees don't want noise they concentrate much on making honey while in a very silent place and they don't like intruders since they can charge and sting people,"Tunanukye says.

"Bees should also be given water if the water source is very far they shouldn't travel distant places looking for water and nector," he says.

Tunanukye has planted crops and trees that yield good pollen and nectar (bee forage). Plants which are good source of nectar include; Tamarind, Moringa, Neem, Eucalyptus and Bottle brush while sorghum, sweet potato, millet, coconut, roses, castor, pomegranate and date palm are good for pollen. Plants such as Banana, Peach, Citrus, Guava, Sunflower, Mango, among others are good for both nectar and pollen.

Marketing and value addition

Apart from beekeeping, Tunanukye is engaged in marketing bee inputs such as protective wear namely; suits and gloves, bee smokers and gumboots.

"Several field visits to different parts of the country made me realise that I was losing a lot of money in selling raw honey. I then invested in a honey press that cost me sh5m and other equipment totaling to sh10m," he said.

Using the new equipment, none of his products would be thrown away as wastes.

"We are now able to extract the honey, grade and package it before sell. We use the wax for making candles, this significantly doubled my earnings from bee keeping," he noted.

He also makes cosmetics from the honey and he has mobilized and organized over 150 farmers under their association of Kamwenge beekeepers' association.

"The demand for the honey and its products like cosmetics and candles is very high, so we have to produce and sell as a group," he says.

The honey is packaged in various sizes namely 50ml, 100ml, 120ml, 200ml, 1 litre, 5litres, and more depending on customer needs. The cost is between sh1,000 and sh25,000.

In various outlets, Tunanukye is employing youths as salespersons paying them between sh200,000 and sh300, 000.

Other products

Apart from these products, he processes therapy jells for tumor cell using bee venom.

He also processes bee propolis for treating wounds and other injuries and bee wax for processing candles as well as lip bums.

Benefits

He has managed to put up a decent house for his family and plans to acquire more land.

He notes that beekeeping does not require a lot of lands because if someone has a quarter an acre of land, he or she is good to go.

Mistakes done

Tunanukye said that at first, he lost many bees when he didn't clean the grass where he had hanged the hives.

"I didn't realize that lizards like the bees and they ate most of them because the place was bushy but later I realized that I had to keep the place clean and free from lizards," he says.

He says that the other mistake he made was putting the beehives under direct sunlight which forced most of the bees to swarm.

"Bees don't like too much sunlight and once the sun hits directly into the hives, they immediately leave," he says.

Pests and disease control

 Tunanukye says that during dry periods, most honeybee colonies are always weak due to insufficient forage and water supply.

Weak colonies are easily attacked by pests and diseases. Pests such as lizards and rats hide in hives during the dry seasons.

"Regularly inspect your apiary. This is important because it will help you identify any problem within the apiary and make appropriate remedies accordingly. Apiary inspection will help you find out whether there is a need for any specific interventions," he says.

Labour and farm expenses

Tunanukye has employed four permanent workers at the farm who help in records keeping, marketing and labeling.

He also employs casual workers during harvesting.

He says he has trained all his workers how to handle the Tunanukye

Social-economic impacts

Tunanukye gives out beehives to other farmers in Kamwenge to start their apiary projects and over 300 farmers have started their own businesses.

He has also trained and shared knowledge with other farmers under Kamwenge Bee Keepers Association. The association has been registered at the district level.

What others say about him

Grace Muhimbise

"Tunanukye has helped many families to start the apiary project in different parts of Kamwenge, we also sell our honey to his shop and he pays us our money in time. We have also learnt a lot from him.

Frank Mwesigye

"When Tunanukye started his apiary project, we never took him seriously but now people come from different parts of the world to learn from him. Recently, he hosted many people who celebrated the world bee day.

Kayondo Emmy

"We are able to make candles, Tunanukye invited people who came and trained us, and since then, our lives have changed. He is always ready to share with us knowledge whenever we approach him.