Safeguard Bees and Beekeepers in Madagascar

The SEED office has been a hive of activity over the last few months. We’ve made some incredible progress over the first year of the project with the help of our beneficiaries, partners, the wider community and of course our donors. The 18 first-year beekeepers have improved their beekeeping knowledge and skills, and have seen their profits increase consistently.

However, during the project’s first year the infamous varroa mite spread across all the communities we’re working in. A varroa mite infestation can render a hive totally unproductive, seriously impacting the financial security of the beekeepers who rely on the sale of honey to supplement their income.

Yet thanks to extensive work in Project Year 1, the first-year beekeepers now have the skills and experience to combat infestations swiftly and appropriately. Not only do they have the means to do this in their own hives, but they are well set to share their experiences with beekeepers joining the project in our second year. Furthermore, the first-year beekeepers are now at the forefront of the regional fight against varroa, continuously monitoring its spread, treating infestations and ensuring hives are strong enough to remain productive despite infestations.

Moving into Project Year 2, we have begun training workshops using the “Train the Trainer” approach. We’ve been supporting first-year beekeepers to pass on their new skills and knowledge and train up 30 second-year beekeepers. This approach is vital to the sustainability of the project and empowers our beneficiaries to be agents of change in their own right, as they pass on best beekeeping practices independently from SEED.

A key aim of the knowledge sharing was to enable beekeepers to construct hives that are of high enough quality to house a healthy colony of bees even when infested with varroa. Designed by Jevago, our national Beekeeping Technician, the hives marry modern technology with the specific needs of the local context and only use sustainable and affordable materials. This ensures hives can be easily maintained and replicated, encouraging long-term self-sufficiency, securing a sustainable income for years to come.

There was a buzz throughout the two days of training with first year beekeepers passing on what they had learnt over the last year with brilliant results. Jevago outlined to the group how to construct a hive and instructed the first-year beekeepers to partner with those new to the project. The sustainably sourced materials provided by SEED for training purposes were distributed to the workshop, as the first-year beekeepers took the new beekeepers through the construction step by step. Each hive constructed by the new beekeepers was sealed from pests and approved by Jevago. The knowledge of the first-year beekeepers was crucial for the new beekeepers members, who left the training session with hives ready to be populated!

Over the course of Project Year 1, everyone involved has done fantastic work in supporting rural communities and vulnerable groups to improve their income through beekeeping. With your backing we can set the beekeepers up to build on the successes of the last year long after SEED’s involvement, keeping the honey flowing for years to come!