APICULTURE

Apiculture is the practice of rearing of the honey bees for the procurement of their by-
products. From the prehistoric times the use of honey is known to mankind but at that time
they would collect honey and wax from the forest by creating smoke and fire besides the
located hive.

After the invention of the artificial bee hive it is now possible to produce honey and other
byproducts of the honey bee in a single place and commercialize. The success of apiculture
industry is based on the right knowledge of honey bee rearing, fulfil their requirements, early
detection of diseases, maintaining of the apiaries and plant species grown.

Bee Biology and Behavior

There are various types of bees which include the stingless bees, solitary bees, honey bees.
This manual focuses on honey bees. Honey Bees belong to the animal kingdom, Phylum
Arthropoda, Order Hymenoptera, class Insecta, Super family Apoidea, family Apidae, genus
Apis. The genus Apis is divided into several species and sub-species/ races but the 5 main
species are: Apis dorsata (the giant honeybee), Apis laboriosa (the darker giant honeybee),
Apis florea (the dwarf honeybee), Apis cerana and Apis mellifera.

1. Castes in a bee colony

Honey bees are social insects that live in colonies of 10,000 to 60,000 bees. A colony consists
of a queen (fertile female), a few hundred drones (males) and thousands of workers (sterile
females). They pollinate flowering plants and crops. They also produce honey, beeswax and
other bee products of very high economic value.
Queen bee

The Queen bee is a reproductive female. There is only one queen in the hive and her job is to
lay eggs and produce queen substance (pheromones). When a new queen starts life, she
mates only once with drones outside the hive. A good queen lays between 1,500 - 2,000 eggs
per day but after two years she lays fewer eggs. She lives for three to five years. It is very
difficult to find the queen but she can be recognized by her long and slender body and short
wings.

She is fed by the young workers and is bigger than the other occupants due to massive
feeding especially with royal jelly. She has a sting that is only used against rival queens. Her
pheromones or scents serve to control the other bees and harmonize the colony’s behavior.
The Queen bee can be marked on the dorsal surface of the abdomen for easy identification
and to avoid being crushed accidentally during hive manipulations.

Drones

The Drones are males and are bigger than the workers. They develop from unfertilized eggs
and their major task is to mate with the queen. They are stingless, very large eyes which are
used to spot the Queen during mating. Drones look large and square and make a loud buzzing
noise when they fly. Drones are dependent on the workers for food because their proboscis
is short and cannot collect food for them. There can be about 200 to 500 drones in a hive but
in time of food shortage the workers chase the drones out of the hive to die. Their lifespan is
usually not more than 2 months.

The Workers

Most of the bees in the hive are workers-they are all sterile females. The worker bees’ change
tasks according to age. Young worker bees clean the hive, feed both young and the Queen
and make the beeswax combs. They control the temperature of the hive by flapping their
wings and also guard the hive. Older workers scout for food and collect the pollen, nectar,
water and propolis. They have a sting plus special glands and organs to help them to defend
the colony against enemies. The workers are also responsible for the honey formation
process. The lifespan of a worker bee is 7-8 weeks during the main flowering season when
they work hard. They can live longer during dormant periods.

2. Life cycle of a bee

Each bee in the course of its life passes through 4 stage metamorphosis: Egg→ Larva→
Pupa→Adult. During the development stages, the eggs, larvae and pupae are known as brood.

The egg laid by the queen looks like a small grain of rice or hair nit. Whether an egg will
develop into a queen, drone or worker depends on the type of cell it is laid in (it is very
important to learn the difference between capped brood and capped honey – capped brood
is usually dark brown and capped honey is usually white or creamy in colour). The egg
develops into larva, which looks like a white maggot. All larvae are fed on royal jelly for the
first three days after which larvae for workers and drones are fed on pollen (bee bread) and
honey put into the cell by the nurse bees (younger worker bees). The queen feeds on royal
jelly throughout the life.

The larvae are sealed with a wax capping in the comb after six days where they turn into
pupae and later emerge as adult bees as shown in the table below.
 3. Communication in bees

Bees communicate with one another in a number of ways such as drumming feet, flapping
wings like a ‘dance’ and use of pheromones. The dance performed by the scout beesis one
way the beesinform each other of the location of food and how far away it is. There are
several types of dances performed by the bees, but the main ones are the round dance and
the waggle dance. The round dance is performed by bees that forage less than approximately
100 metres from the hive. Waggle dance is performed to locate food source beyond 100
metres from the hive. The scout bees also perform a characteristic dance to locate the new
found home to which bees intend to swarm.

The queen releases a substance called a “pheromone” (sometimes called queen substance)
which serves different functions. The pheromone enables her to identify members of the
colony, to inhibit ovary development in worker bees, to prevent the workers from building
queen cells, to help a swarm or colony to move as a cohesive unit, and to attract drones
during mating flights. The absence of the queen substance (e.g. when the queen dies)
produces opposite responses, i.e. worker bees begin to develop ovaries and to build queen
cells, and a swarm searching for accommodation will not cluster but will divide into smaller
groups that cannot support the normal life of a bee colony. Colony decisions are taken by the
collective behavior of bees within one colony sharing the same odour, allowing guard bees
to detect intruders.

The Importance of Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the science and art of rearing bees. It is important to keep bees for the
production of honey, beeswax, propolis, pollen (bee bread), royal jelly and bee venom; for
food, medicine and income. Beekeeping is also important for pollination and recreational
activities.

There are various reasons for keeping bees, namely:-

1. For cultural purposes

Honey is used for beverage brewing and occasionally served at important cultural
ceremonies such as weddings. It is also served to very important guests as sign of high
regard. The Maji Maji rebellion used bees as a weapon to defend themselves against the
colonialists. Honey was used in Egypt as cosmetics and also for embalming the Egyptians
dead pharaohs. Honey was among the tithes and offertory given by the Jews to the Levites in
their culture. In some African cultures honey is also used to pay dowry.

2. As source of food

Honey is delicious and nutritious. It is an important food for many people in Uganda. It is
consumed whole or mixed with other foods as supplement. Among the Langi and Acholi,
honey is mixed with simsim and groundnut paste. Bee brood (larvae and pupae) have high
nutritional value and are fed to malnourished children. Royal jelly and pollen are consumed
for their high protein value.

3. As source of medicine

Bee products such as bee venom, honey and propolis are used for treatment of many
conditions following the antibiotic nature of the products. The conditions/diseases treated
using bee products include stomach upsets, diarrhea, vomiting, wounds, burns, cough,
measles, false teeth, toothaches and fungal infections. It also helps to boost the immunity of
people living with HIV/AIDS.

4. For income generation

The honeybee products can be marketed locally or abroad to get money, with or without
value addition. Beekeeping industry also provides incomes to various stakeholders in the
value chain. These include bee farmers, artisans, pharmaceutical industry, food, beverage
industry, honey dealers among others.

5. Pollination

The honeybees provide pollination services, thereby playing a vital role in food production
and overall agricultural productivity. Over 75% of all the crops in sub Saharan Africa benefit
from pollination. Bees are considered the most efficient pollinators because they have hairy
bodies which easily pick up pollen grains as they move about in flowers. During a single day
one bee may visit several hundred flowers. So bees are important to farmers. More bees
means better pollination and high yields. In other countries pollination by bees is hired and
fetches additional money to the beekeeper.

6. Conservation of natural resources

Beekeeping is a nondestructive activity that could be employed in the conservation of

biodiversity in protected areas. Households living adjacent these areas can support the
conservation efforts of these resources by establishing apiaries within or at the boundary of
these protected areas. Farmers realizing that vegetation is a source of forage for bees will
guard against the destruction and be encouraged to plant more plants for supplying pollen
and nectar. In the process many plants are conserved and protected from destruction.

7. Hobby

Other people keep bees as a hobby.

8. Api-Tourism and research

Establishment of bee reserves for purposes of tourist attraction and research holds a big
potential for the future.

9. Apitherapy

Bee products are used in the treatment of many human ailments. For example, bee venom is
an important remedy for many ailments such as Arthritis, Parkinson disease and other
diseases related to the nervous system. The venom can be obtained through bee stings.

10. Beekeeping is a cheap undertaking

 Beekeeping does not involve mass feeding of bees because in most cases the bees
provide their own food all year round.
 All the necessary inputs and technologies required for beekeeping are available
locally. Some may be wasted if bees are not kept, e.g. pollen and nectar from flowering
plants.
 Honey and beeswax can be produced in semi-arid areas that are unsuitable for any
other agricultural use.
 The beekeeper requires limited land to keep bees.
 Pollination
Plants require pollen to be transferred from one plant to another to aid reproduction. This
transfer of pollen grains is called pollination. It can be transfer from the anther to the stigma
of the same flower or another flower of the same plant or another plant but of the same
species. In other words, pollination is the mixing of the male and female parts of a flower.
Pollination is therefore a vital step in the reproduction of flowering plants and is necessary
for all seed and fruit production. Over 75% of all the crops in sub Saharan Africa benefit from
insect pollination. Other agents of pollination are wind, animals, birds, water, man and
reptiles.
Insects including bees forage plants for food, they visit many flowers a day in search of pollen
and nectar. Many flowering plants depend upon these insects for the pollen transfer
(pollination) as they forage. Adequate insect pollination improves the quality of the crop;
uneven, misshaped and small fruits are often indication that pollination has been insufficient.
Among the insects, bees are considered the most efficient pollinators because they have
hairy bodies which easily pick up pollen grains as they move about in flowers. During a single
day one bee may visit several hundred flowers. Furthermore, bees are consistent foragers
and tend to work one kind of flower at a time.
Scout bees will locate the best flowers and then encourage their hive mates to use the same
source. Pollen from the anthers is trapped in hairs covering the bee and carried to the stigma
of the same plant or another from the same species. This is the first step towards fertilization
and the production of seeds and fruits. Bees, therefore, play a vital role in food production
and overall agricultural productivity, as pollinators. So beekeeping provides pollination
services.
In some countries the economic value of pollination is higher than the value of honey.
Beekeepers move their hives to different bee forages in order to maximize honey flow and
to improve crop pollination. In America, India and China pollination by bees is hired and
fetches additional money to the beekeeper. Growers are willing to rent hives from
beekeepers. Hives are placed near to the blooming crops (especially fruit and oil seed crops)
and removed after flowering. Many beekeepers make money in this way and still have the
honey from the hive. They end up with a double profit!
Bees are known to increase and improve the yields of avocado, coffee, cotton, sunflower,
mandarin, onion, papaya, beans, mango, bananas, and many other cash crops.
So bees are important to farmers. More bees mean better pollination and higher yields. If
bees are killed, the value of crops is reduced. Therefore it is in everyone’s interest to maintain
strong population of honeybees. Insecticides kill bees and contaminate hive products.
Farmers can help by selecting and using the recommended pesticides with great care and
never using pesticides when flowers are open. Foraging insects work on open blossoms and
will be killed if sprayed at this time.
If pesticides must be used, it is best sprayed early or late in the day when crop flowers are
closed and there is no wind to drift the spray onto other flowers or hives. Farmers should
always try to choose a pesticide that attacks the pest but will not harm bees. Beekeepers
should teach others the value of pollination by insects. They should also educate neighboring
farmers about insecticides and their negative impact on the bee colony. Forest trees are also
important bee forage and forests are essential for the survival of bees. No trees, no bees: no
honey, no money. Conserving forest biodiversity is therefore important for beekeepers.
Forest trees native to Africa that are important for bees include among others:-
 Acacia species
 Coffea species
 Combretum species
 Diospyrus species
 Dombeya species
 Julbernardia globiflora
 Pentaclethra macrophylla
 Vernonia amygdlina
 Calliandra callothyrsus
 Eucalyptus sp.
 Musa sp.
There are commercially available and major sources of forage for bees to produce excellent
honeys, and can flower all year round. The following are examples ofsuch plants: black berry
(Rubus argutus), calliandra (Callindra callothyrsus), Citrus (Citrus spp.) e.g. tangerine and
orange, coffee (Coffea spp.), clover (Trifolium incarnatum), sunflower (Helianthus spp.),
cotton (Gossypium spp.), mango (Mangifera indica), cashew (Anacadinaceae), neem
(Azadirachita indica), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus sp.), banana (Musa sp.), bottle brush and
passion fruit.
Bees forage on different flowers in different areas depending on what is available. Most
plants flower only at certain times of the year but bees need food over many months, so a
variety of plants must be available. It is a good idea to identify which plants bees feed on in
your area. It is then possible to plant flowering plants around apiaries to ensure the bees
have adequate forage when they need it. Wild plants should be allowed to grow wherever
there is space, including by the side of roads, near houses and in between fields. Produce a
flowering calendar listing the flowers that are available each month of the year.
 Beekeeping Systems
There are different beekeeping systems used and these include:-

(a) Honey hunting and bee-killing

The long relationship between humans and honey bees started with honey hunting in the
wild. Honey hunting continues in some communities to date. It involves killing the bees in
the wild colony so as to obtain combs containing honey and brood (larvae and pupae). This
primitive method involves use of open fire to kill the bees, eventually destroying not only the
colony but also the environment as bushes are set on fire in the process of harvesting honey.

Advantages

 Minimal work and knowledge is required

 There is no investment or expenditure involved

Disadvantages

 Nests and bees are destroyed

 Bees may become aggressive
 Remaining bees may abscond
 Access to the nests can be far and dangerous
 Combs get mixed up during harvesting hence producing poor quality honey
 Environment is destroyed if trees are cut down or set on fire.

To reduce the hardship and unpredictability of harvesting from wild colonies, people found
ways to increase their control over bees through the ownership and management of colonies
kept in hives. These beekeeping systems range from the local/traditional methods to the
modern systems.

(b) Bee-having
This is an intermediate step between honey hunting/bee-killing and beekeeping. In bee-
having, bees are housed in hollowed sections of tree trunks, clay pots, gourds, bark hives, or
woven twigs and mud baskets. Combs containing honey are fixed and removed periodically.
The farmer provides protection to the bee colony in return for periodic harvests of honey,
wax and other bee products.
The idea is to maintain the colony for future harvests instead of destroying it for a one-time
harvest. Both bee-killing and bee-having are carried on with very little understanding of the
biology of the bee. It is not uncommon to find bee-having among farmers who have relatively
sophisticated equipment which allows for management of their colonies. They remain bee-
havers because they lack the training to make optimum use of their equipment. This method
is sometimes referred to as local/traditional.
Advantages
 Bees and nests are conserved t Minimum cost (cheap locally available materials and
labor)
 Suitable for defensive bees
 Less risky than honey hunting
 Hives can be placed near homes
Disadvantages
 Combs are fixed and must be broken during harvesting
 Honey yields are modest
 Hive inspection is difficult

c. Beekeeping
Beekeeping implies the manipulation of a bee colony based on some understanding of the
bees. This gives great ease of management and harvesting for higher yields and better quality
of honey. Beekeeping therefore can be lucrative at any level of technology, but the level used
should fit together with the local cultural and economic reality.
There are 3 categories of beekeeping namely:-
(i) Local/traditional beekeeping in fixed comb hives.
(ii) Transitional (between local/traditional beekeeping and modern beekeeping): in
top bar hives.
(iii) Modern beekeeping: in frame hives
Advantages
 Hives can be managed efficiently
 Bees are less disturbed and therefore less defensive
 Hives are easy to visit, harvest, treat, feed, unite and divide
 Hives can be made to the right volume and combs are movable
 Honey and beeswax can be of good quality
Disadvantages
 Equipment can be costly
 External financial support and donated equipment may be required
  Hive must be made very precisely in order to work effectively
 Diseases and pests can be spread easily due to movement of equipment.
 More knowledge and skills are required

Bee Keeping Equipment

Beekeeping equipment include beehives, harvesting gear, processing gear, storage and
transportation facilities.
1. Bee hives
There are different types of beehives and these include:
i) Traditional hives (fixed comb hives)
Woven basket hive
 They vary in shape, size and type of materials used for example they can be conical or
cylindrical in shape, the cylindrical one measures approximately 90 cm in length and
30 cm in diameter
 Materials: papyrus, bamboo, fibre, twigs or sticks, cow dung or soil for smearing,
grass or banana fibre or dry banana leaves as cover. Durability of the hive depends
on the materials used and management.
 One end completely closed, One end bearing 5 - 6 holes of diameter 8 - 10 mm in a
row.
Advantages
 Cheap
 Materials are locally available
 Does not require a lot of skills and technology
 High propolis productivity.
 High wax productivity
Disadvantages
 Difficult to inspect
 Combs break when transported over long distances
 Production is limited since hive cannot be extended
 Difficult to harvest and a lot of smoke is needed
 Difficult to determine harvesting capacity or volume because of differences in length
and diameter.
 Swarming and absconding are common

b. Log hive
 Cylindrical in shape.
 One end closed but one end bears the entrance hole for the bees
 Advantages
 Cheap
 Materials are locally available
 Does not require a lot of skills and technology
 High wax productivity
 Durable with good practices
 High colonization rate
Disadvantages
 Difficult to inspect
 Combs break when transported over long distances
 Production is limited since hive cannot be extended
 Difficult to harvest and a lot of smoke is needed
 Difficult to determine harvesting capacity or volume because of differences in
length and diameter.
 Swarming and absconding are common

c. Clay hive:

 Made from baked clay soil

 Can take the cylindrical or oval shapes
 The cylindrical has entrances at one end
 The oval shape has entrances at the bottom with the top covered a plank of wood.
Advantages
 Cheap
 Materials are locally available
 Does not require a lot of skills and technology
 High wax productivity t High colonization rate
Disadvantages
 Difficult to inspect
 Delicate to transport as it may fall and break
 Production is limited since hive cannot be extended
 Difficult to harvest and a lot of smoke is needed
 Difficult to determine harvesting capacity or volume because of differences in shape.
 Swarming and absconding are common

d. Johnson hive
 Made from well-seasoned timber of Musizi, Nkago, Nkuzanyana and Muvule
measuring 12 x 1 inches.
 Doors measure 30 X 30 cm
 Sides measure 91 cm X 30 cm
 Top board measures 97 cm X 30 cm with iron sheet cover
 Bottom measures 91 cm X 26 cm
 With a queen excluder in the middle
 With entrances on either side of the excluder
 Wire loops for hanging
 Advantages:
o Separates honey from brood
o High wax production
Disadvantages
o There may be two colonies in the hive creating confusion
o A colony may seal off the queen excluder with propolis and remain on one
side of the hive.
o Combs break when transported over long distances
o Production is limited since hive cannot be extended
o Swarming and absconding are common

2. Improved hives (movable top bar hives)

Advantages

 Colony splitting and multiplication easy.

 Control of swarming is possible.
 Easy to inspect to know the condition of the colony
 Harvesting is easy and possible to select sealed combed (ripe) honey
 Materials for construction are available
  Durable
 High colonization rate when baited
Disadvantages
 It requires high skills and technology to manufacture
 Expensive for an ordinary person to afford
 Production is limited as it cannot be expanded
 Combs can easily break while in transit

b) KTB Catcher box:

The KTB catcher box is usually a quarter of the actual KTB hive. It is used for trapping
passing bee swarms in the wild.
3. Modern hives (Movable frame hives):
Examples: Langstroth and Dadant Frames arranged vertically right on top of the brood
chamber (super).
 Advantages of Langstroth / Dadant hives
 Transportable
 High honey yield
 Easy to inspect and harvest
 Easy to control swarming
 Bee breeding and queen rearing possible
 Long lasting
Disadvantages of Langstroth / Dadant hives
 Very expensive
 Some of the materials for construction need to be imported
 Requires high skills and technology
 Production of other hive products is very minimal (wax and propolis)
 Requires high management skills.
 It is prone to pest and disease attack
 b) Brick frame hive
 The main body of a frame brick hive is made of bricks with 2 sides, a front with
holes for bees to enter and a back.
 28 frames
 A cover for protection against rain

Advantages
 High honey productivity
 Easy to manage, inspect and harvest
 Long lasting
 Breeding of bees possible
 Not expensive
 Materials locally available
 Having natural insulation properties Disadvantages
 The frames require high level of skills to construct
 Not transportable
 More prone to pests, diseases and floods

2. Bee harvesting gear

a) Smokers
The body consists of a galvanized metallic sheet of gauge 28 canon and pumping bellow.
The canon has a chamber with 2 holes- one for incoming air and the other one to let out
smoke. Inside the chamber is placed a sieve to protect the inlet from being blocked with
ash.
The pumping bellow consists of 2 pieces of wood of size 12 cm X 20 cm, returnable spring,
leather or canvas material.

Recommended materials for smoking

 Semi dry grass

 Wood shaving
 Coffee husks
 Maize comb
 Bean husks
 Millet husks
 Dry cactus
 Dry pawpaw stem
Recommended procedures in lighting a smoker
Put glowing charcoal on the sieve in the canon chamber, followed by any of the smoking
materials mentioned above, filling the chamber 3 quarter way. Before closing the smoker
fill the canopy i.e. the last quarter with fresh green grass or leaves. Gently, start pumping
the bellow and smoking.

b) Bee suit
Consists of an overall and a head veil; the overall is made of white or yellow khaki
material with a head veil attached to it. The net of the head veil is made out of strong
black nylon material in order to have good vision and ventilation. The hat of the veil
consists of the same khaki material of the overall with a round stretching stiff ring of
approximate diameter of 42 cm. The veil is attached to the overall with a double zip and
can be detached. The overall should cover whole body right from the legs, arms up to the
neck with a long jacket zipper from the fry up to the neck. The overall should be fitting
loosely (not tight) with provision of pockets; at least 4 pockets - 2 at the chest and 2
around the thighs. There should be elastic of code 16 at the wrist and ankles.
c) Bee gloves

Can be made of soft leather material or soft latex gloves, joined with a piece of cloth of
the same khaki material and colour of white or yellow as that of the overall, reaching up
to the elbow fixed with an elastic of code 16.
d) Gumboots

Gumboots to be used by a beekeeper should be white in colour and of his/her own size.
One can innovate a gumboot out of polythene sacks used for carrying maize, beans, sugar
and used as overshoes and tie over the overall near the knee.

e) Hive tool set

Consists of a bee brush, hive opener and stainless steel knife:
The bee brush should be made of soft natural fibre e.g. sisal fibre. One can also use
bird quill feather or very soft leaves or grass provided they are clean.

The hive opener is made out of flat iron bar of 6mm thickness, width of 25mm and
length of 24cm. The hive opener is sharpened at both ends but curved at one end and
should be painted with rustproof paint to avoid contamination of honey with
corrosion and rusting with honey.
3. Bee processing Equipment

a) Air-tight buckets

They should be white or yellow in color and of food grade material of capacity not more
than 25kgs for ease of transportation.

b) Food grade drums

The drum must be made of stainless steel, air-tight and rested on wooden pallets.
c) Refractometer

It is a machine used to determine the percentage of moisture in honey. It is imported ready made.

How to use a refractometer

Open the slide cover and put a drop of honey sample and cover. Hold against light, view
from the eye piece and adjust accordingly until you get a dark border line; where it marks
is the percentage of the water content of that sample. Then, clean the slide thereafter.

d) Weighing scale

It is a device used to weigh honey, beeswax and other bee products. There are 3 types of
weighing scales commonly used in Uganda, namely:-

(i) Platform Weighing Scale: It comprises of a platform and a scaled arm.

How to use a platform weighing scale:

Put the container with the bee product in question on the platform and adjust the scaled
arm until it balances. The reading where it balances gives you the weight of the product
in the container.
 ii) Clock Face Weighing Scale: It has a scaled clock face with a pointer, 2 hooks and
re-setting nut. These weighing scales vary with maximum weighing capacity
ranging from 25kgs to 200kgs.

How to use a Clock Face Weighing Scale:

1. Re-set the pointer to 0’ mark using a re-setting nut.

2. Use upper hook for suspending the scale in a rope tied to a horizontal bar.

3. Hang the container with the product on to the lower hook.

4. Take the reading from the scale where the pointer ends and record.

iii) Clock face-with- weighing bowl-and-base weighing scale: It has a scaled clock face with a
pointer, a bowl, a base and re-setting nut. They vary with maximum weighing capacity
ranging from 1 gram to 2kgs.

How to use a Clock face-with- weighing bowl-and-base weighing scale

1. Re-set the pointer to 0’ mark using a re-setting nut.

2. Put the container with the product on the bowl.

3. Take the reading from the scale where the pointer ends and record.

4. Used to weigh small quantities

f) Centrifuge extractor
It is a machine used to extract honey from combs and framed combs. It comes ready made.
Some are made of food grade plastic while others made of food grade stainless steel. They
have extracting capacity ranging from 2 frames to 18. The combs or frames are arranged
either radially, triangularly or rectangularly in order to extract honey. There are manual
extractors as well as the electrical ones.

All types have a spout for draining the honey out of the tank. The bottom is convex inside to
allow all the honey to drain. They are fitted on 3 stands. The main body is cylindrical. They
have 2 transparent plastic covers.
g) Honey settling Tank

There are 2 types; food grade plastic tanks and stainless steel tanks. They vary in capacity
from 25, 50, 100, 200 and then 400kgs. It has a cover and a spout with a convex bottom
inside. Some come with inbuilt honey strainer while others come with separate double
strainers.
k) Honey collection and processing premises:

1. The honey processing environment should be free of pests, contaminants and

pollutants i.e. it should be free from filth, fumes, stagnant water/breeding
places for mosquitoes, swampy areas, agrochemicals, human or animal waste
or garbage.
2. The premises should be suitable in size for the purpose of
handling/processing food
3. It should be spacious to allow smooth flow of processes
4. Adequate lighting should be provided
5. It should be vermin and bee proof
6. Have good drainage
7. Have high roof-the ceilings shall be smooth, impervious and easy to clean