The basic understanding of bees in Kenya is limited to those two thoughts. That is when you hear the word bees what pops into your mind? First, I am sure you think about the honey and second its the painful stings!
And as such this has been the reason why bee farming has not succeeded in Kenya. Anyway, why would anyone invest in a venture that has a limited revenue stream?
However, I want you to know that bees are more than providing honey when they are happy and attacking other creatures when in bad moods.
Related: The truth behind successful Fruit Farming in Kenya.
Yes, apart from the wound drying power of honey which is given by bees still there are many other benefits that bee farming can offer in improving the livelihoods for many low-income Kenyans. So, keep reading.
And at the end of this article, I am confident you will have the hidden benefits that can be reaped from bee farming in Kenya. And better off you will be provoked to make an informed decision when farming bees in Kenya.
First of all, I will take you through an analysis of how it looks like to do bee farming in Kenya in the next paragraph so that you can have a sense of where we are heading. Welcome.
How Bee Farming in Kenya is placed at better placed to improve livelihoods
Around 80% of Kenya’s landmass is either arid or semi-arid and this makes it ideal for bee farming to flourish in such regions because of these two important reasons :
Honey bees are great drought resistant insects.
This implies that with the right beekeeping information and support from agricultural agencies then Kenyans living in the vast arid and semi-arid areas can indulge in massive bee farming activities.
And you don’t have to worry about flowers and plants since desert cactus produces the right fluids throughout the years for the bees to make honey.
So bees in desert areas are able to make honey any time of the year as compared to bees in wet areas where plants that produce the fluid that is used in honey making fluid are seasonal.
See also Fish Farming in Kenya – An Expert Analysis.
This is what most of you entrepreneurs want to hear.
And that is, you need a relatively smaller budget to do start beekeeping as compared to other similar types of agricultural ventures.
Believe it or not, with 5000 Kenya shillings you can have a kickstart in the bee farming venture and have your first harvest in less than a month! Can you imagine? With good returns based on market prices.
