Pro-poor beekeeping

The cheapness of the primary resources for beekeeping – nectar, bees and hive-making materials – is one of the reasons why poor people choose beekeeping, and one of the main reasons they make a profit. Changing the type of beekeeping to make it more capital intensive undermines this attribute, and in tropical climes often leads to failure. Poor people are vulnerable to the vagaries of nature and there is little anyone can do when things go wrong. Using the power of nature to their advantage is their strength.

It is better to have healthy bees that need no medication, than trying to force bees to produce more honey through colony manipulations which may inadvertently undermine bee health. It is better to rely on nectar than sugar, because nectar is free, and sugar is not – and nectar is better for bees. It is better to avoid systems which rely on expensive hives because having many, low-cost hives is a less risky approach.

Bees for Development advocates sustainable, low-cost, close-to-nature beekeeping because these are the attributes that make beekeeping fit to serve the needs of the poor and the needs of the bees.