Hives Save Lives
Last Updated on Saturday, 22 November 2008 20:46
RBKA's generosity over the past two years has produced (including tax relief) almost £1,650 for Hives Save Lives. Click here, or read below and you will see a report on where the money has been going. It makes good reading and Reigate Beekeepers should be proud that we are making a difference. This year’s appeal has already started with £50 raised at our AGM raffle. If you are able to make a donation the process is simple - see the bottom of this article.
Hives Save Lives - Reigate Beekeepers November 2008 Report
Reigate Beekeepers have been generous supporters of Hives Save Lives and I think it is time to let you know where your money has been invested! Fortunately, it was sent directly to Uganda, not via Iceland, and was used to purchase hives, clothing and training for beekeepers in Mubende District, central Uganda.
Most of the population in this area depend on subsistence farming for survival, with an average annual income of just $324.00. There are many traditional beekeepers in the district, but the general practice is ‘honey-hunting’ rather than beekeeping. The photograph shows a traditional hive being heavily smoked for harvesting, which impregnates the honey and often destroys the hive, or at best causes the bees to abscond.
By supporting the beekeepers with modern frame hives and training, production can be improved from around 8 kg (traditional hives) to over 45 kg a year, providing a viable and sustainable income for the farmers, local employment, improved health and nutrition, and insurance against crop failure.
Working with the local government district administration, we identified 25 beekeepers who were keen to make the transition to modern beekeeping, and delivered a 5-day basic beekeeping course within the community. The training was very much a two-way learning experience, as the farmers had a wealth of knowledge regarding swarming patterns and the foraging preferences of the bees in their district.
Following the training, we provided 120 hives to the farmers who agreed to form a co-operative (the Bageeza County Beekeepers Association). As a co-operative, they were able to negotiate with another NGO (non-governmental organisation) providing agricultural support services, and our beekeepers now have access to a local collection centre with an extractor to support their hives. As a group, they are able to combine resources and obtain better prices for their honey, and provide practical assistance to other beekeepers in the district.
Each hive costs approximately £30.00 to manufacture (complete with strip foundation) and a beesuit £15.00, all made in Uganda and providing more local employment. Effectively, a very large part of this project was funded by Reigate Beekeepers, and we are extremely grateful to all the members who have made this project a reality.
How Can we Help?
For small cash sums, please could you bring them to the 3rd December Woodhatch meeting or get it to Bob Maurer before Christmas. He will put them all together and send them as a lump sum on one gift aid form so the charity benefits from the tax rebate. There will be a collection box at the meeting so you can be as discrete as you like. It doesn’t matter how little goes in – it all helps.
For cheques, could you please fill in a gift aid form (available to download from this site (click here) or contact Bob Maurer who will send you one). Then either bring the cheque and form to Woodhatch or send it to Bob before Christmas. Between Christmas and the new year, Bob will collate it and send it all to Hive Save Lives on behalf of Reigate Beekeepers. Please make the cheques payable to Hives Save Lives.
See http://www.hivessavelives.com/
