It’s a long trip from East Arkansas to East Africa.
Rita drops me off at Memphis International Airport. Inside the terminal, a
television producer notices my khaki clothes, good for hiding dirt when unable
to wash clothes for extended periods, and my stack of airline tickets leading
to the Horn of Africa. She explains that she’s making a program featuring
interesting usage of environmental resources by non-profit agencies. My assignment
sounds like a good fit for her program, so we agree to discuss my work training
beekeepers in Ethiopia after I return to the states. The four segments of the
lengthy flight offer opportunities to meet other travelers. One lady, working
for a Chinese automobile equipment maker is traveling from the United States to
Budapest, Hungary to study manufacturing to return the work to the US. From
Detroit to Amsterdam we discuss Chinese and Indian investment in Ethiopia’s
infrastructure and American investment in Ethiopia’s agriculture and food
security.
I meet a physician working with the Centers for
Disease Control in Ethiopia. With hours of time to share on the long flight
from Amsterdam to Khartoum and then to Addis Ababa, we discuss health matters
for the Ethiopian people. Sanitation is a major concern for the physician; the
life expectancy of Ethiopians is estimated at 48 to 51 years. Periodic droughts
have brought famines in recent years. I explain that my work in training beekeeper
farmers is designed to increase food security. By improving the quality of honey
the farmers produce, they can increase their income, sometimes doubling their
family’s earnings. I explain how much of the honey produced in developing
countries is used to produce mead, or honey wine; and I tell of our earlier project
producing Ethiopia’s mead, tej. The physician tells me that he knows the
microbiologist well who worked with me on the tej project, having been in his
classes in medical school. Today’s photo: Me and my Oromifa interpreter, Tucho,
at Shambu, Ethiopia.
--Richard
Posts
a small world exposed in your travels across the huge globe.
ReplyDeletelooking greatly forward to your next post!
this is interesting to me. currently I am preparing my project paper to start my commercial apiary. if any one interested we can make it together, but my point is how can i evaluate the carrying capacity or potential of the specific area?
ReplyDeleteMr. Wondwosen,
ReplyDeleteI believe that you can determine the carrying capacity of an apiary from experience gained from past usage of the area for beekeeping. This experience may be gained by you over time, or it may be shared by others who have kept bees in the area. Keep in mind that Ethiopia has diverse geographic areas with specific flowering plants and varied climates. You will need to compare bee hive density in an area near to your proposed apiary which has similar nectar sources.
Honey bees typically forage an area four kilometers in every direction around your apiary. Be aware that grazing by livestock, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, may significantly decrease the amount of low-growing flowering bee forage plants in the bees’ forage area. Your careful planning will help prevent problems such as starvation or absconding during periods of nectar dearth. Best wishes.
--Richard