Bees need to be fed!

With the increasing cases of environmental degradation where the natural shrubs are being burnt and uprooted, farmers who are undertaking apiary are finding it difficult to sustain apiary projects.

Farmers say food for fees is declining and this has caused a lot of ‘migrations’ hence a decline in honey production. But according to Dickens Mpairwe an entomology officer with Bushenyi district local government, farmers should forget about the old methods of keeping bees. He says things have changed especially as a result of climate change. “Gone are days where bees depended entirely on nature,” he says. Mpairwe advises that farmers must now think of planting species of plants/trees which can produce flowers and attract the bees.

He also says like how human beings, animals…..require water, bees require lots of water. “If your farm is not near a wetland, a river or a lake…..make sure you put water in an open container like a basin and put it near the beehives.”  At some point, a farmer should prepare banana juice and put it where bees can easily access.

Bees searching for food from flowers planted at Muga Eco Village.