# Hello from Kenya



## Remichi (Apr 6, 2013)

Hello all. I'm new here and just wanted to say hi. I am a Dutch VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) volunteer working at a Youth Polytechnic school in Kenya. I recently took a beekeeping training at the Kenyan Ministry of Livestock Development (see pictures of the training at http://www.flickr.com/photos/michisunited/sets/72157632825602956/with/8191603909/

I built a Kenyan Top Bar Hive (KTBH) catcher box, hung it in a tree and after 4 days the first bees were spotted. See video of the hive setup at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michisunited/8602932627/in/photostream With the help of the carpentry department we are now making a full scale KTBH with 26 top bars and a viewing window on each side. This way I hope to educate the teachers and students without having to open the hive each time.

We will have a school break next week until May 8th. Once I'm back at school I want to hang the big KTBH and transfer the bees from the catcher box to the bigger hive. 

I'm going to post in a different part of the forum about how soon to transfer the bees. Hope to learn a lot here on the forum!


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## JClark (Apr 29, 2012)

Karibu, mzungu!


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## Bee Whisperer (Mar 24, 2013)

Wow JC I'm impressed; unless of course you said something bad. :lookout:

Anyway . . . Hello Remichi. In the photos, are you the guy with the bee suit on? Just kidding. 

That is a really cool Catcher box. It only took 4 days? Awesome! :applause: 

Welcome.


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## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Welcome.
What are the bees like in Kenya. In the US, we think of African bees as being very aggressive.


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## Lazer128 (Dec 15, 2012)

Welcome to the site!


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## Remichi (Apr 6, 2013)

Asante sana (Thank you)

The National Beekeeping Station stressed that you always need to wear the protective kit because the bees are much more aggressive. 

There is a wild colony of bees in the roof above our computer room. The other day we wanted to move a plastic 10,000 liter watertank over a wall near the computer room so that it would be inside the school compound. The bees near the computer room thought we were making too much noise, came out and stung us. We dropped the water tank which now has a crack in the plastic and is useless. It was a very unfortunate incident, now I have to convince everyone at the school that having one KTBH is not dangerous, and that we should just refrain from making noise around the hive. The hive is located outside the school compound, on a side of the terrain where there are no playing kids. 

For the catcher box I bought ready made top bars from the beekeeping station, they were even waxed already. For the big KTBH I want the students and teacher to make the 3.2 cm wide bars. Getting them to understand the importance of very exact measurements is difficult though.

@Administrators: I accidentally posted a question twice in another forum part. I didn't see my first message and thought something went wrong due to my bad internet connection so I sent it again, that's when I saw that the message will be check by an administrator. So you can delete one of the messages. It was a question on how and when to move the bees from the catcher box to the real hive.


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## JClark (Apr 29, 2012)

Bee Whisperer said:


> Wow JC I'm impressed; unless of course you said something bad.


Just said "Welcome, White man". Everywhere you go there you are called mzungu--if you are white, of course. Even my korean-chinese wife was called mzungu. It's not taken as a derogatory statement there, simply a statement of fact (Kenyan's aren't super sensitive like we are though the rifts are between tribes).

The only hives I ever saw in Kenya were hung up in trees out in the bush--away from villages. I did a lot of my work in Marigat (1-2hrs north of Nakuru in the Rift Valley). Could hear them buzzing in the morning when I went to pick up sand fly traps. I was based up in Kisumu (our HQ was in Nairobi).

For that water tank, depending on how bad the crack is, you might be able to get a local fundi (handyman) to patch it. I've had a few fixed that way.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

Welcome!


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## nodlehs (Apr 7, 2013)

been browsing around this forum and had to join when i saw this thread , i am in Nairobi as well trying to get into beekeeping as well . grt luck with the catcher boxes , that is how the bees i have right now were acquired . took i think over a year for us tho (wasn't here then)


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Remichi said:


> @Administrators: I accidentally posted a question twice in another forum part. I didn't see my first message and thought something went wrong due to my bad internet connection so I sent it again, that's when I saw that the message will be check by an administrator. So you can delete one of the messages. It was a question on how and when to move the bees from the catcher box to the real hive.


For the benefit of all, I'm replying to this in public.
The anti-spam software we use monitors new postings for potential spam. Because your new and your post had a hyperlink in it, it decided to keep it in a moderated queue for manual processing. Once it's approved, you will not be seen as a potential spammer anymore. This is why some members make a post and don't see it show up for some time later. They will almost always have a hyperlink in them.

Welcome to Beesource! It's great to have members from across all ponds!


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## BeeCurious (Aug 7, 2007)

Jambo! 

Welcome to the forum.


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## Remichi (Apr 6, 2013)

Wow JClark, nice to hear you seem to have enjoyed Kenya! The crack in the watertank is at the bottom though, don't know if the crack-fix will hold back 10000 L of water.

@nodlehs: if you're ever near Waithaka, come and visit our school and you can have a look at the beehive setup. We're still in the early stages, don't have any of the gear yet except for the catcher box. Have to go to the National Beekeeping Station to get a protective suit and probably also have to get a smoker. Making our own smoker will be difficult.
Do you have any hives with bees at the moment nodlehs?


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## nodlehs (Apr 7, 2013)

Remichi said:


> Wow JClark, nice to hear you seem to have enjoyed Kenya! The crack in the watertank is at the bottom though, don't know if the crack-fix will hold back 10000 L of water.
> 
> @nodlehs: if you're ever near Waithaka, come and visit our school and you can have a look at the beehive setup. We're still in the early stages, don't have any of the gear yet except for the catcher box. Have to go to the National Beekeeping Station to get a protective suit and probably also have to get a smoker. Making our own smoker will be difficult.
> Do you have any hives with bees at the moment nodlehs?


ya actually i think where both in dagoreti county (not sure the new divisions in the constitution ) am in the mothama area , basically right up the hill from you, al ask about your school and see if i can get some directions, and yes to the bee question , i have one hive i rebuild after it fell apart , and i have harvested twice with no smoker , right before dark they were very aggressive tho . i can post some pics tomorrow of the hive and am going back to manage in a few days i can take some snaps of the brood but its all miss managed ((very new to bee keeping) so i have one hive with two supers and one of the supers  is filled with brood cuz the queen got through the separator ( i think am going to pull the separator out).


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## Remichi (Apr 6, 2013)

If we're both in Dagoretti we should be very close. Muthama is actually the matatu (minibus) stage we get off at when we go to school by matatu. Usually my wife and I go by our motorized black mamba bicycle. (See www.bit.ly/kenyanbicycles)

Once I have the protective suit I'd love to come and visit your place. Maybe even bring a student or teacher along to get them enthusiastic.


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## nodlehs (Apr 7, 2013)

sounds cool 



















here are some pics , the stand is temporary working on switching it out soon .


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