How To Start Beekeeping in Ghana
Do you want to start beekeeping in Ghana? If yes, then this article is the right one for you.
In Ghana, finding a job in both the public and private sector is very difficult. Before you can find a job with any of these companies there are a lot of protocols you have to pass through.
As a result, starting your own business is the right way to go if you want to find a stable source of income. One of the businesses you can start in Ghana no matter your age or level of education is beekeeping.
This business has not been spotted by many Ghanaians as a potential source of income. Therefore, if you enter this business, you have a higher chance of succeeding in the business.
Sometimes, you go to the market to buy honey and when you get home you realize that it is not as natural as they claim to be. Once you start your beekeeping, you can be able to produce your own honey.
What Is Beekeeping?
According to Wikipedia, beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly man-made hives, by humans for their honey. In simple terms, beekeeping is the act of keeping bees for their honey.
As you might aware, honey is a very high-demand commodity in Ghana and the entire world at large. Even in this period that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken over diabetes patients, the demand for it has even risen very high.
What You Should Know Before Starting Beekeeping
The reason you choose before starting beekeeping can go a long way to affect the strategies and items you may need to get started. Therefore, make sure you know the reason why you decide to start beekeeping and then research on the requirements.
You need to check whether the laws in your area or community allows you to raise bees. It would be painful to buy all the equipment and then realize you can raise bees in your area.
Be prepared for the costs and expenses you will incur when starting the business and maintaining the business.
You should have a particular place where you will raise the bees. It should be at a place that will be free from pests and parasites.
You need to check up on your bees at least once a week. This will be at least one hour per hive.
Equipment Needed When Starting Beekeeping
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Woodenware: this is what makes up the beehive and it includes the hive button, hive body, and top cover. It is advisable to start with two hives so that you can compare and make the necessary changes.
Protective veil and gloves: this is what will keep you protected from being stung by a bee. So this is very necessary and mandatory.
Smoker: this is what will calm and distract the bees when you are working on the hive.
Hive tool: this is reminiscent of an elongated paint scraper. It must allow easy access to the hive and move frames around.
Bees: lastly, you need the bees for the beekeeping. Without them, there’s no beekeeping.
How To Start Beekeeping in Ghana
- Obtain the required permits to start a beekeeping business in Ghana.
- Gather the necessary information from both experienced an online source like this article.
- Look for a land and a place to establish your beekeeping business.
- Order the required beekeeping equipment.
- Establish your beehive at a location that is free from pests and parasites.
- Visit a trusted bee vendor to buy the bees for your business.
- Provide your bees with what they need and occasionally check up on them at least once a week.
- Harvest the honey from the bees.
- Market your honey and beeswax.
- After your first harvest, evaluate and make changes to your business.
Benefits Of Beekeeping
- Enjoy pure honey made from your bees.
- You can obtain wax and sell them to businesses that produce candles, cosmetics, and other wax products.
- Bees can pollinate your plants for you.
- Low maintenance from you, once you set up the hive, the rest of the job is done by the bees themselves.
The Process Of Collecting The Honey From Your Beehive
Before you can collect honey from the beehive, the bees will have to leave the supers (the removable boxes inside the hive that contains the honey). To remove them from the supers, you can use the smokers which will distract the bees and let them leave.
Once the bees are finally out of the hive, and you’ve removed the supers, use a knife to cut beeswax off the top of the honeycomb.
Then you can scoop out the honey or use an extractor to get a lot more of the honey out. The extractor will fling the honey out and drains it down into a bottom.
All you need to do then is to tap it off into a bottle or a container.
Conclusion
Beekeeping is one of the best businesses I would recommend for persons who want to start an environmentally safe business in Ghana.
The only thing you have to do is to read a little more on beekeeping and then requirements during each season of the year. Once you can do that, you are going to be one of the successful beekeepers in Ghana and you would thank me later.
If you think this is too much for me, I will advise you not to venture into it. It is better not to go into the business at all than to venture into it and lose all your money.
