The Sophia Project Beekeeping Farm

Summary

The Sophia project seeks to start a beekeeping enterprise to raise funds to run its own activities. This is necessitated by very limited funding sources for the past years. We have faced a lot of financial challenges in the past years to raise enough funds to run our project activities. Because of this financial constraint we have decided to strategize and focus things that we can do by ourselves to raise funds instead of depending entirely on donations. We have lined up a number of farming projects that are viable and are profitable to engage in to generate funds for our activities. Some of the identified enterprises are drip irrigation, aquaculture and apiculture (beekeeping).This will ensure our project activities are sustainable and run smoothly throughout the year with very minimal financial hitch.

Justification of the Apiculture (Beekeeping)

Bees are the greatest pollinators and part of the biodiversity on which we all depend for our survival. They contribute directly to food security. According to bee experts at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, a third of the world’s food production depends on bees. They provide high-quality food—honey, royal jelly and pollen — and other products such as beeswax, propolis and honey bee venom.

Beekeeping is a profitable agribusiness activity. It has a high market value and growing demand in the local and export markets. On average, a hive can produce 40kg of honey in a year, depending on the strength of the colony, environmental factors and availability of bee forage. One can, therefore, earn around $400 from each hive every year.Its demand stems from its many traditional and medicinal uses.

Preparation so far done in readiness for beekeeping

The project has already put in place a number of very important things bees require for a high production of quality honey throughout the year. We have dug a pond and laid a PVC foil inside it to retain water throughout the year, we have planted a variety of flowers, fruit trees, vegetables like bananas, pumpkins, mangoes, sunflower that bees require. We have a quiet, cool and canopy like environment as an apiary where beehives will be placed.

How funds the donations will be used

Requirements

Langstroth Bee Hive @ $60

Bee suit @ $35

Bee smoker @ $30

Bee catcher box @ $20

Bee brush @ $6

uncapping hive knife @ $15

2 frame stainless steel manual honey extractor @ $32

35 litres stainless steel settling tank @ $150

Stainless steel honey press @ $300

Money generated from beekeeping will be used in the project activities as follows:

Set up an education fund to support children coming from poor families with school fees and school requires.

Set up a talent center to promote, develop and nature talents of young people.

Support school going adolescent girls with sanitary kit to ensure regular attendance.

Support widows with mature small animals as a way to build their livelihoods assets to help themselves.

Provide seed money for women table banking group.