Kenneth Agaba, an apiary farmer in Kanungu District, explains his plans to set up a bee museum. PHOTO/LOMINDA AFEDRARU
Bee keeping in Uganda has taken a huge turn as many farmers are venturing into it not only for the money but also the health benefits of raising bees. Bees help in pollination, which leads to many crops producing good yields.
The main reason farmers keep bees is for the honey and its readily available market both within and outside Uganda.
It is one of the farming ventures that is attracting many farmers in the country, including youths.
One such youthful farmer, who has taken up bee keeping as a form of employment, is Kenneth Agaba from Kanungu District.
Agaba was mentored by the Young Famers Federation of Uganda (UNFYA).
After visiting Germany recently, Agaba decided to venture into a bee museum.
History
According to reliable literature, honeybees were kept in Egypt from ancient times and it slowly spread to the rest of the African countries and in the entire world.
According to literature from Wikipedia, the keeping of bees by humans, primarily for honey production, began 10,000 years ago.
More than 100 years ago, beekeepers started helping the bees find food, build homes and do their job of pollination. Agaba interacted with Seeds of Gold and has a story to tell about honey bee museums and how he intends to set it up.
Agaba believes human lives are depending on bees because they pollinate plants which produce food for human consumption.
He explaines that honey bees are essential for agriculture, and they are vital for the preservation of ecological balance and biodiversity in nature.
Honey is a source of revenue to the country, with estimated revenue of Shs5b per annum.
About 5,000 metric tonnes of honey are produced by an estimated 1.2 million people involved in bee keeping.
Honey bee museum
A honey bee museum is a place to learn about the importance of honey bees and beekeeping, and to experience the world of bees.
Agaba’s Honeybee Discovery Center consists of interactive exhibition gallery and learning space to teach farmers the importance of pollinators, especially honeybees in our environment.
Agaba explains that since he already has an apiary farm, the task of setting a bee museum will be simple. He is now looking for Shs250m to set a complete honey bee museum.
He has already started setting up the necessary infrastructure for the museum, which includes a building with various apartments, including glass boxes for breeding the bees, a section to keep different types of bees for visitors to come and test, and showcasing live bee keeping practices.
This involves the outdoor surrounding environment set up with different tree species to produce nectar for the bees. The museum will sit on half an acre space, with space for children to play.
The indoor activities include sensitising farmers on bee value addition such as how to process quality honey, process bee wax into different sizes of candle, processing cosmetics from bee products and processing bee propolis into medical products, among others.
Visitors will also be taught about bee biology and how the bees behave when in the hive.
Since bees can end up stinging people on site, visitors will be provided with overall jackets to keep them safe as they walk around the museum.
The museum will use sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch to share the history of beekeeping, a stewardship of our environment.
Bee biology
In publication about bee museum by scientists from Paleontological Research Institute, US, explaining bee biology, it is stated that the length and events of a bee’s life vary, depending on the seasons they emerge , what flowers they gather food from and whether they are solitary or social.
