Bees, which many see as a dangerous insect to keep or harness, are also perceived by some as money rotating by insects that need to be grown and grown to accumulate wealth from various bush products.
According to experts, bees can be less dangerous when the beekeeper respects them (bees), this may not bite the beekeepers when watching the protocols of respect for insects during the "theft" from them, but otherwise the pain from insect bite is always unbearable.
Beekeeping is the cultivation and cultivation of bees of various species, mainly for the production of honey and bush. It can also include the storage of bees for pollination and environmental management among others.
Beekeeping or beekeeping is the maintenance of bee colonies, usually in artificial hives, most of these bees are bees in the genus Apis.
Bees have several raw materials, including honey, beeswax, bee venom, royal jelly, propolis, bee bread, pollen. It has been proven that all these raw materials have enormous economic value in the international market.
This month in Nigeria will be held ApiExpo Africa 2018, during which the convergence of investors in the subsector on beekeeping around the world will be achieved, will arrive in Nigeria to discuss the way forward in beekeeping, and also to use the opportunity to interact with Nigerian beekeepers, see possible areas of cooperation .
ApiExpo is an exhibition of continental trade organized by ApiTrade Africa, a pan-African non-profit organization headquartered in Uganda, but operates in all 55 member countries of the African Union.
The event is held every two years in different African countries, uniting each related branch around the global beekeeping sector.
ApiExpo is the African version of APIMONDIA (World Congress of Beekeeping), it covers exhibitions, scientific sessions and business meetings for investors and other participants in the value chain (beekeepers, packers, processors, material producers, researchers, academics, etc.). This is a meeting of all stakeholders on the value chain of beekeeping
ApiExpo aims to create a real platform for the convergence of beekeeping leaders, international experts, farmers and processors from around the world to promote the practice and benefits of beekeeping / processing in Africa.
It will also create opportunities for international trade and access to the foreign market for the beekeeping industry, attract national and international investment in the beekeeping industry, and will link and support these trade and investment benefits in long-term industrial processes.
The Expo will stimulate exquisite processes for sustainable growth through unhindered cooperation between players from the public and private sectors, strengthening the private sector to ensure sustainable development, creating youth employment that will reduce rural poverty and rural poverty.
It is also expected that ApiExpo will increase food security by reducing the extent of hunger-related malnutrition in order to meet the zero hunger of the UN and FAO in 2030 and maintain a balance of ecosystem diversity by mitigating global warming.
Beekeeping makes a huge contribution to the economy of any country that uses the potential in this sector. Honey bees work in different capacities to store resources, protect their place of residence, feed their broods.
The world trade in beekeeping is estimated at 450 billion dollars. USA (N162 trillion.), The pollinator release is estimated at 250 billion dollars. The United States ($ 90 trillion), net worth is $ 11.5 billion. The United States (N4.14 trillion, the world honey production 1.8 million tons, the African market share is 5 percent (90,000 tons), the share of the Ethiopian market is 40,000 tons for a total of $ 255,300,000 (N91.9 billion ), and in the Nigerian market there are 15,000 tons worth 96,025,000 US dollars (N34.6 billion).
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As for N210 or N410 (depending on the type of hives), you can start beekeeping and make almost twice as much if you invest in honey production and collection of other materials for the hive.
To start beekeeping with the Topbar hive, you need to purchase 10 hives (N150,000), 2 beekeeping suits (N20,000), 2 pairs of gloves (N6,000), 2 pairs of shoes (N10,000), 1 hive tool (N1,000), 1 smoker (N5,000), service (N18,000), total N210,000.
It is expected that during the harvest this method will yield 150 kg of honey and 37 kg of beeswax, which stands at N524,000 on the market.
For Langstroth there will be a bush, the beekeeper is expected to buy 10 hives worth N350,000, 2 beekeeping suits (N20,000), 2 pairs of gloves (N6,000), 2 pairs of shoes (N10,000), 1 hive tool (N1,000), 1 smoker (N5,000), service (N18,000), total N210,000.
It is expected that the harvest of Langstroth will produce 300 kg of honey and 15 kg of beeswax, the cost of which is estimated at 930,000 on the market, which is twice as much as the investment.
The importance of bees in agriculture can not be overestimated, they say that if bees cease to exist today, then in the next 4 years people will cease to exist, because bees help in pollination of the majority of flowering crops in the world.
According to the expert on beekeeping, Oluwaseun Johnson, "two-thirds of the 3000 species of crops in the world require agents for pollination.
"Annual global food production of $ 235 billion. The US and 577 billion dollars. The USA depends on the direct contributions of pollinators. Pollinators, such as bees, birds and bats, affect 35 percent of global crop production, increasing production of 87 leading food crops around the world, and many plant-derived medicines.
The exact economic value of the lake's beekeeping is not known all over the world, but we know that bees pollinate exclusively, 90% of blueberries, apples, avocados, cucumbers, oranges and pumpkins. "
Also, according to Oluwaseun Johnson, "only in the United States is the largest producer of apples in the state of Washington. In a typical year, about three out of five (10 to 12 billion) apples in the United States come from Washington, and without bees, the cross-pollination required for the production of apples simply does not happen on a scale that is large enough.
"About 80 percent of the world's almond stocks come from California, which requires about half the honey bee population in the United States for pollination every year. The price value of more than 3 billion dollars, the yield of almonds completely depends on the honey bees for pollination.
"Without bees, however, most of the harvest of cucumbers in 193 million dollars. The US would be non-existent. According to the National Resources Protection Council (NRDC), the yield of cereals exceeds $ 15 billion each year only in the United States.
The Chairman of the ApiE Organizing Committee, Dr. Dooshima Kwange, during her speech in the media interaction program with the Organizing Committee of ApiExpo Africa, said that outside the Expo the goal is to raise awareness about the production of honey and turn it into a business that will be used to raise people from poverty .
"We want to see that livelihoods are increased, we want to see that related industries, the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry have raw materials, we want to see that the processors have enough to handle, we also want to see that we are shortening the Import, we also want to see that we are starting to export, so these are the areas that we are considering outside the hives, "said Dr. Kwange.
This year, the ApiExpo benefits for Nigeria in general and the beekeeping industry in particular will help improve livelihoods, create jobs and empower people.
Nigeria will also benefit from the diversification of the economy and the increase in foreign exchange, improving the quality and quantity of honey products and other bush products. This will ensure food safety and increase raw materials for the necessary industries.
Improvement of the sector will help in the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDG) – 1, 2, 3, 5, 12 and 15.
Other benefits include the impact of all participants on the value chain of beekeeping on modern technologies demonstrated during the exhibition, which will help in promoting value added in the bush products.
