Pastor Dagunduro Gideon is the Executive Director, Success Farm Nigeria limited Gwagwalada. He also works with the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development Gwagwalada office. In this interview, he says bee-keeping is the only gold Nigeria is yet to tap from in the agricultural sector.
Excerpts:
How long have you been keeping bees?
I started bee keeping during my NYSC days, and through that I won both national and state awards. I was also given a chieftaincy title in the community where I started the beekeeping in Kwara state. I have consulted many farms including that of the former minister of works, the late Abdulkareem Adisa in Ilorin. I established over 200 hives and that of the late Gen. Lukas Yusuf, former Chief of Army Staff. I also established many hives for a lot of other people.
How many farms do you have and what is the production capacity?
Presently, I have over 200 hives scattered in Abuja, Kogi and Kwara states.
How much does it cost you to keep bees?
Keeping bee is a lucrative business, because somebody once said it is the only gold Nigeria is yet to tap from in the agricultural sector. This is because you can start with as little capital as N50, 000; you can start by acquiring your hives, and smokers. You don’t need to own a land before you can be a bee keeper and is the only animal you don’t feed. Except in rear occasions, they feed themselves. So bee-keeping is very lucrative. Apart from the honey, you get a lot of things. Honey is the least thing you get from beekeeping.
What are the other products you get from beekeeping apart from honey?
Yes, there are other products that you can derive like propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, which is selling in the international market. You can make millions of dollars from it.
What are those products used for?
They are pharmaceutical products, some for creams and others for curing a lot of diseases. There is even a recent research that part of the products from bee, may be the final cure for HIV.
Why is beekeeping not very popular in Abuja because everybody is talking about poultry and fishery?
I work with the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development. I want to thank God for the ministry through the Agricultural Transformational Agenda and the current minister. They have just finished training some bee keepers from different parts of the country in Abuja where I represented my director at the occasion. The federal government is creating awareness in beekeeping through the ministry of agriculture and rural development.
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How can one start beekeeping?
First and foremost you have to develop the interest. A lot of people are discouraged by the fact that bee stings. Bee doesn’t sting like that. Normally, they are very friendly, they are like pets and by the time you start keeping them, you will enjoy it. The first thing we tell farmers is to start by developing the interest, afterwards, they can now seek for advice outside.
When you get the hives, how do you source for the bees?
If you are going into beekeeping, you have to develop the interest and then you will seek for training. After the training, you will know that there are conditions, the bees don’t come into the hives naturally. There are two ways: you invite them or you can bring them inside. You can pack the bees that were seen, we call them colony. You can pack the colony and put inside the box or we put bait to attract them to the box. By the time you attract them in the first year, you will be harvesting them every year because they will be there permanently.
How long will the bees remain in the hives before you start harvesting honey?
In fact, if they colonize a box, within six months you can harvest it. By the time you harvest they will continue to build.
Do you have different types of bees like we have in fishery, poultry and other animals?
Yes, we have many types of bees.
How do you identify them?
The species that is meant for honey production is called apis mellifera. We call them honey bee. They are the ones that produce honey. These ones are common around; they are the popular bees we see in Africa. They are the ones you see hanging on the trees. We improve from the traditional method by building hives. You know the problem of bees is accommodation, so we build the hives, put the bait and they will come and stay once the place is conducive for them. They are such an organized set of insects.
How lucrative is the honey market in Nigeria?
The market is highly demanding. In fact, people are looking for pure honey. A lot of the honey sold by the road side are adulterated, some are mixed, and some are even sugar. That is why when people know you as a beekeeper, and you are producing they will come to you to buy. As I am talking to you now by the special grace of God, I have done a lot of things through selling of pure honey. I built my first and second houses through honey production and I sent my children to school through honey productions apart from my civil service work, because I take it as a hobby. When they know you are producing honey, people come from everywhere to patronize you.
Source: Daily Trust