Charity Work In The Gambia
Our Membership Secretary Phil Healey is putting his time and money into a fantastic cause in a very poor area in The Gambia.
He has equipped the local people with top bar hives in a training apiary and has arranged for some of them to be trained in Beekeeping.
The object is to try and give these people an income and an extra source of food. We are very proud of Phil's efforts.
Phil writes...
The WYCE Bee Farm began in November 2005 when a number of hives that had been given to WYCE by E.K.Sarr, the chairman of WYCE Gambia were recovered from their storage place at the WYCE lodge and were cleaned up and made fit for habitation by bees. The hives were a mixture of KTB (Kenyan Top Bar) and Dadants (frame hives similar to those that we use in the U.K.). They had been stacked up beside a building and were slowly being destroyed by termites. In a short time they were made ready for use and were baited with short strips of foundation which would help to attract bees.
While this early work was being done we were introduced to Kebee Famara Touray, a qualified and experienced beekeeper who lived in the next village to Madina. He immediately offered advice as to how the hives should be positioned and set up and very soon it was obvious that he would be the ideal person to oversee and manage this bee project. So the 25 hives were set out on tyres and very soon they became occupied with bees - they came in naturally as Kebee said they would, if they were baited with wax foundation.
In addition to managing the bees it was decided that a training programme should be started for any local people who would like to learn how to keep bees. Kebee would be their tutor. 5 men from the village came forward. One of their first achievements was to erect a shade area to protect the bees from the intense sun and also from the heavy rain in the rainy season. This was duly constructed from materials obtained locally. However, the extreme weather of the 2007 rains destroyed much of leaf covering and so in February 2008 a lot of repair work was carried out and half of the shade was created using corrugated sheeting. If this proves to be successful the other half will be completed in 2009. The village carpenters were employed to do this repair work. By the end of March the rest of the shade was established using palm leaves and then soon after the hives were returned to their original places under the cover ( they had been moved out so that the shade replacement work could be carried out)
Eighteen months into the project a beehouse was built 50 yards away from the apiary site. The purpose of this was to provide an area where hives could be constructed, training could be carried out and honey could be extracted. This has been well used so far and in the future it is hoped that it will be used even more. There has not been a huge honey crop to date but hopefully this will improve with time and the sale of it will boost the general funds of the WYCE charity.
In February 2008 one of the trainees was taken on as a member of staff to manage and care for the bee farm. He is Yankuba Ding Ding and his early responsibilities have included clearing unwanted vegetation from around the site(a real fire danger as it dries out), setting out a fence around the bee farm, putting water out for the bees and also watering and caring for the trees in the adjacent wood lot. In the future he will manage the bees themselves and carry out the necessary manipulations of the hives.
Everything is now in place for the WYCE bee farm to really take off and be very positive in the production of honey and other bee products. Kebee remains an integral part of the project as a consultant and trainer. It is hoped that more young people from Madina will come forward to learn how to keep bees to assist in their generation of income and production of a food resource. It is also envisaged that Madina Beekeepers will become registered with the Gambia Beekeepers Association and that the WYCE project will be recognized as a national resource within Gambia. Many individuals and groups in the UK have supported this project and we are extremely grateful to them - they are too many to list! We look to the future with great optimism and hope to soon report on a wonderful honey harvest from Madina bees.
Phil Healey
April 2008
If you would like to assist Phil in his project please ring him on 01902 762722
