I was a cattle keeper, but during the long war in Sudan my cattle were raided several times and I lost them all. In order to pay school fees and support my family with basics I thought of beekeeping because they are not easily stolen. I started with 50 local hives made of reeds and grass with a skill I learned from my grandfather. It worked but fire burning by hunters made me lose 10 in 2000. Today I have changed all of them with Kenyan top bar hives and I have put them in three apiaries, well cleaned, under big trees near my house. For the last 9 years my children clean, harvest, and sell honey and pay their basic school expenses. Many friends and buyers come to the house to buy the honey sometimes. We produce 2 to3 tonnes yearly. I am looking for information for a small cottage processor so that I can add value and get more money by selling the honey and its byproducts separately.
Manoah Aligo, Yei, Southern Sudan, October 2009