Steve Agbota [email protected] 08033302331
Bee keeping has become a lucrative business. This is as a result of the huge demand for natural honey and its byproducts that make the business attractive to both young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
Bee farming, which is also known as ‘Apiculture’, is practiced around the world, and can be a source of nutrition while providing valuable source of income to bee farmers and people in developing regions with relatively little investment.
Honey, one of the products derived from bees, is regarded as the most popular natural sweetener in the world and the global trade in bee products is worth billions of dollars.
As a result of its diverse uses, the worldwide consumption of honey is so huge that supply can hardly cope with demand. Even Nigeria and South Africa prove to be the large markets for bee products but the two countries cannot still meet demand.
Daily Sun learnt that Nigeria alone consumes about 380,000 tonnes of honey, a current global price of about $4.5 billion and that is just domestic consumption of honey. This figure has not even reflected in the amount of honey that goes into industrial production, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
According to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bee Keeping Pollination Project Coordinator, Mr. David Musa, Nigeria can generate over $10 billion from local and international trade in honey and other hive products if properly harnessed. He said there is need for Nigeria to get honey export certification from the European Union (EU), adding that it would give credibility to the forthcoming largest Africa Apiculture Trade to be hosted by Nigeria this year.
Musa believes that the economic prospects of the apiculture industry is as high as global yearly production of raw honey, which is about 1.4 million tonnes. Value in current global dollar rate at $5,000 per metric tonne is $7 billion while total yearly value of the global apiculture industry is $230 billion (N40 trillion).
Honeybees provide a wide range of benefits to humans including honey, other bee products, pollination of food crops and ecological services. As demand for natural honey increases, it has become effectual in curing ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, heart problems, high blood pressure, cancer and eye problems.
Apart from honey derived from bees, there are other products you get from bees, which include beeswax, pollen, propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, among others. Beeswax is used for furniture polish, candles and crayons while pollen is being used for food, cosmetics, preparation of medicine and hand pollination. Meanwhile, propolis is also used for repairs of the honeycombs while venom is used for preparing medicine and the royal jelly is food for queen bees, etc.
Interestingly, beekeeping is one of the simple farming projects to start. With N10,000, an intending farmer can get one hive and make up to N40,000 after the harvest of honey. But those that are able to start with N100,000 can go into the production of beeswax, pollen, propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, bee colonies, bee brood, queen bees and package bees, among others.
You don’t need to have your own acres of land before starting bee farming. But you can hire a piece of land or partner with fruit farmers that have cashew, pawpaw, coconut, oil palm, citrus, sunflowers, sisal, clover citrus and mango trees and put your hives there. Putting your hives in fruit farms will be a great advantage to the farm. Bees are naturally attracted to flowers because of a sweet substance called nectar that they like to feed on, and as a result, produce honey and several other products from nectar.
It’s obvious that bees are agents of pollination and by putting your hives around a farm that has fruits, the bees will pollinate the fruit trees, which will assist the farmers to double their harvests. Intending bee farmers can source their equipment and all the inputs required for the business locally to reduce cost.
As Nigeria is preparing to host the forthcoming largest Africa Apiculture Trade in 2018, this is the right time for anybody to invest in bee farming and take the advantage of the huge prospect of the business.
Chief Executive Officer of Boluwa Golden Solutions, Mr. Gbenga Boluwajoko, urged intending farmers to seek the advice of experts and undergo training for proper knowledge before going into bee farming, adding that N60,000 can cover the cost of training, uniform and one hive, by starting with just one box.
Speaking on other products from beekeeping, he said beeswax can be used for making candle and other materials while bee injection can be used for treatment of high blood pressure and other sicknesses.
He explained: “To make money on a new hive, a farmer must wait for a while. A standard box will give between 15 and 20 litres of honey, so profit depends on number of hives invested on. Note that a litre of pure honey is N2,200. Beekeeping is highly profitable because maintenance is low and you may not need to feed them but they take care of themselves.
“We are ready to help intending farmers to set up their bees farming. We give bee injection and we help to transport hives with bees from one location to other farms after inspection of your farm. We teach people how to harvest honey from beehives.”