Where bees pay ‘rent’ and produce in plenty

Farmers learn how to harvest, refine and package their products. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Members of the Ogiek people keep their bees in a grass thatched structure that enables them to get more honey.

Located 8km off the Elburgon-Molo Road, Marioshioni is a densely populated village that is mainly occupied by members of the Ogiek people.

The village tucked away from the noisy traffic along the busy road is dotted with several iron-roofed and grass-thatched dwellings.

It is easier to dismiss it as too remote for any commercial economic activity, but looks can be deceiving.

In Marioshioni, bees have turned the villagers into ‘landlords’ who are enjoying sweet earnings from the insects — their tenants.

The insects pay ‘rent’ in the form of good returns twice a year in a new farming method that has enhanced productivity.

The farmers keep their bees in grass-thatched apiaries. An apiary with a circumference of 5m hosts 10 to 20 beehives.

“All we do is construct grass-thatched apiary for the bees and wait to reap good returns,” says John Kemboi, beekeepers county chairman.

For every beehive, a farmer earns an average of Sh14,400 after every six months. “We have been doing this for the past four years. We were taught about the new farming method by officers from Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Agribusiness Project (Kapap), run by the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners,” says Kemboi, a member of Marioshioni Community Development Self-Help Group, which comprises of 250 beekeepers, under which they conduct their activities.

The members of the Ogiek people used to rear bees in the nearby Mau Forest.

However, this became untenable as people would go and harvest the honey leading to losses. Kapap came up with the grass-thatched apiaries to boost security for the bees, thus, increase income.

The farmers were also provided with 500 beehives and harvesting gear as well as training on how to build modern hives, maintain hygiene and plant more trees, shrubs and herbs to improve the volume of nectar.

CENTRAL PLACE

Phillip Owiti, an agricultural trainer with Kapap, says grass-thatched apiaries help to keep temperatures not too hot or cold for the bees.

Owiti adds that for the Ogieks, the apiaries help to keep the beehives in a central place hence the honey remains safe as well as farmers have easy time to manage the insects.

“The houses must be built in a way that bees are free to get in and out. The mud walls stretch from the ground to half of the apiary, then there is space for bees to get in and out. The roof is covered with grass and it has a door.”

The self-help group, with the help of Kapap, has acquired refinery equipment worth Sh80,000 which they use to process the honey.

“We refine and package our products to reach more customers. Not many people can buy raw honey. Members deliver the honey at the refinery for processing,” says Ben Sirma, who is in-charge of marketing for the group that produces 250 litres of honey a day.

They have shares according to their deliveries, with the highest having 3,000.

EXPORTS TO ITALY

They are paid according to number of shares one has, with their top clients being supermarkets, tour firms, shops and hotels.

Before they embraced the modern beekeeping methods, a farmer could only produce 40 litres of honey in a year but now they produce over 800 litres.

The group exports some of its products to Italy, with the help of Network For Eco-farming in Africa, a non-governmental organisation.

“They took some of our farmers to Italy in October last year to market our products and the reception was overwhelming. We have since been exporting honey to the nation,” Kemboi, one of the farmers who went to Italy says.

They sell a 180g pack of the produce branded Ogiek Pure Natural Honey at Sh1,400 while in Kenya, it goes for Sh180.

The farmers use a refractometer (a device that checks the purity of honey) to maintain quality.

Bee farmers, according to Owiti, should only harvest fully developed honey combs and leave the rest for the bees and larvae.

“Harvesting all the honey disturbs the bees. Any honeycomb that is half should be left for the bees as it also acts as the food for the larvae.”

Although Marioshioni group does not export much of their produce because of limited production, last week the group got a boost after Kapap offered them Sh2.3 million to expand the venture.

“The money will be used to purchase a bigger refinery and packaging machines as well testing gadgets to boost quality of the honey produced.”

The grant will also help them transform from a self-help group to a cooperative society to accommodate farmers from other wards, in particular, Lowina and Ndoswa.

The cooperative society has been named Malando. The group plans to venture into manufacturing of petroleum jelly, candles as well as detergents from honey.