Bee Keeping Internship Tour

Want to become a beekeeper? For those travelers who prefer to get their hands dirty rather than sit back and enjoy the ride, beekeeping in the Belo region of the Anglophone North-West of Cameroon will cover the full beekeeping how-to. The African honey bee is smaller than its European counterpart. Beekeeping activities are a way for farmers to generate additional income to move them out of poverty and improve the environment through sustainable and natural beekeeping practices.

During your internship, you will learn everything there is to know about natural beekeeping in Africa including:

Day 1 - 2: Bee Hive Constructing:

How to build a Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTB hive) from wood and bamboo: Construction of front and back boards, construction of sideboards from hardwood or bamboo, construction of the top bars, construction of cover and stands.

Day 3: Bee Hive Installing:

How to properly install a KTB hive in the apiary or bush, taking into account wind direction, direction of sunrise, availability of water sources, abundance of flowering plants, etc.

Day 4: Bee Hive Colonizing:

How to colonize a newly installed hive by proper maintenance (removing ants, spiders, etc.), catching a bee swarm, and baiting (application of beeswax, and other techniques).

Day 5 - 6: Honey Harvesting:

How to harvest honey from a colonized hive, including how to prepare bee equipment (putting on a bee suit, lighting a bee smoker, and other bee supplies), how to approach a bee hive, and how to identify and harvest top bars with honey comb from the hive.

Day 7 - 8: Bee Product Processing:

How to process raw honeycomb into pure honey (crushing, and filtration) and honey by-products such as beeswax, propolis, and royal bee jelly. You will also learn about all the benefits of honey and bee products. We can even teach you a couple of honey recipes if you are interested

Day 9: End of services.

Departure

NOTE: If you wish to participate in the Beekeeping internship and/or beekeeping projects, please bring your equipment including a beekeeper suit, gloves, and bee smoker. It is possible to purchase some bee equipment here as well such as rubber boots etc.