Wubishet Adugna hosted me in his home country of Ethiopia
when I travelled to Africa as a USAID-funded volunteer, charged with teaching
modern beekeeping techniques. Together, we travelled extensively through the
Ethiopian highlands visiting beekeepers, farmers who tend honey bees in
apiaries and tree tops sites. The farmers manage bees and tend crops, gardens, and
livestock. When I taught beekeeping classes in Wubishet’s training facility at
Bonga, Ethiopia, I spoke in English, and Wubishet translated my words into
Amharic. Travelling together, we had the opportunity to discuss beekeeping
traditions in detail. I am sure that we each learned from each other. I
certainly learned much about honey bees and beekeeping from Wubishet. In part,
I learned that much of the western literature on beekeeping in the tropics did
not accurately describe beekeeping in Ethiopia’s diverse semi-tropical
geography. Together, Wubishet and I shared our understanding of the art and
science of beekeeping. The combination of these traditions is to me the joy of
beekeeping. In our classes, we demonstrated how to manage honey bees in modern
Zander bee hives, harvest honey and beeswax, and produce candles, cosmetic
products, and mead. Ethiopia’s traditional beverage is tej, a most-enjoyable mead
wine.
It was my great honor to sponsor Wubishet when he travelled
to the United States and successfully completed the tests to become an Eastern
Apicultural Society Certified Master Beekeeper at the 2017 EAS conference at
the University of Delaware. Wubishet is the first EAS Master Beekeeper from the
African continent. Wubishet teaches the art and science of beekeeping to
farmers as an important part of Ethiopia’s mixed agriculture. My son, Peace Bee
Farm beekeeper, Tod Underhill, had the opportunity to work with Wubishet on
separate occasions. Here, you can see Wubishet and Tod enjoying a liter of tej in
Addis Ababa. I encountered Christians, Muslims, and Naturalistic Believers
living in harmony in Ethiopia. For these people and others, the Underhills of Peace
Bee Farm extend our wish that peace be with you.
--Richard
Posts
Dear Richard, I was very interested to read your post. I was also pleased to hear that beekeepers are sharing information and encouraging other keepers in different countries.
ReplyDeleteWe live on the West Coast of Canada and have kept bees. When we first began we were in regular contact with our cousins in sub tropical Queensland. We were very surprised that considering the heat the hives were usually solid bottom types. Our cousin was a commercial keeper but now keeps under 20 hives on his own property. He is testing a named bottom board that allows ventilation and has found the two hives to have less hive beetle and produce more honey.
Last year we lost our three hives - for various reasons but as we are travelling most of the year will not buy new nucs until we settle again.
Thank you again for your posts.
Regards and best of the season to you and your family.
Janine
Screened bottom boards are useful for helping to reduce parasitic Varroa mites in the hives. They also help the bees cool the hive in hot weather. With solid bottom boards, more bees may be diverted from honey production to hive cooling tasks. Have safe and enjoyable travels.
ReplyDelete--Richard