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Peace Corps & the Northern Savannah Beekeepers Association encourages alternatives to wood as hive building material...
Cooperative exercises between communities & amongst NGO's is an underutilized means to implement agricultural development. In 2012, craftsmen & beekeepers from the Bron-Ahofo region of Ghana met, in the town of Nkransa, near Techiman in Ghana's Northern Region, with their counterparts from the nearby Gumo community, for such a skills exchange. They were exploring methods to produce durable beekeeping structures that did not depend on termite-damage-prone wood from vanishing forest resources.
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Construction of Concrete Hives— The following is adapted from text by Josh Curry-Bascome, U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, Ghana In 2012, a group of men in the community of Gumo, near Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana identified beekeeping as an effective strategy for income generation & other benefits. They organized into a beekeeping association with the assistance of the Northern Savannah Beekeepers Association, based at the University for Development Studies’ Nyank-Pala campus, & U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer Josh Curry-Bascome.
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Through contacts with the NSBA, the Gumo group invited two men from the town of Nkransa in the Bron-Ahofo region, Christoper, an experienced beekeeper, & Okoe, a professional carpenter to teach them how to make Kenyan Top-Bar Hives (KTBH's) out of concrete. Using easily obtainable materials & basic masonry skills they already had the Gumo beekeepers found the process to be cost efficient & a key innovation in areas where money & wood are scarce, deterring ventures into beekeeping. |
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Below are step by step instructions from Okoe-- who created the wooden forms which can be used repeatedly to mold hives: Concrete hives can be used to replace their wooden counterparts-- which are often destroyed by brush fires regularly set to clear agricultural lands. In many areas where trees are scarce, concrete hives are cheaper & avoid difficulties in obtaining durable lumber. Although wooden hives are more easily transported, the benefits of concrete KTBH's in durability & reduced costs make up for their weight. The procedure for the construction of the hive: |
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| 1. Contract a qualified woodworker to construct the hive-box molds (Christopher: 0246461363, or 0207271727) – which can be disassembled to allow the cement to cure faster-- & to cast the next KTBH. Shown in the adjoining photo is the inner wooden form, leftmost, & an assembled mold, rightmost, with an inner mold already in place. All wood surfaces that will come into contact with concrete should be "painted" with motor oil before filling the molds to allow for separation from hive. |  |
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2. Gather all the materials necessary for making concrete (cement, sand, gravel or, preferably, Perlite & water). |
3. Prepare your concrete mixture (cement, sand, & gravel- ratio of 1headpan:2hp:3hp). The mixture should not be too soft, but semi-hard. If available, use Perlite instead of gravel-- this will greatly reduce the weight of the finished hive without sacrificing durability. |
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4. After oiling all the interior surfaces of the mold (to allow for the cured hive to separate easily from the wood), assemble the forms & place a wire frame between the walls of the inner & outer molds to serve as internal support for the concrete. Place a similar section of wire screen on top of the the inner mold (which will serve as structural support for what will be the bottom of the hive). |
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5. Fill the assembled molds with the concrete mix – tamp it with a piece of lumber to compact the concrete. With a mortar spade or trowel, level the top of the mold (which will be the bottom of the actual hive when you flip it later.) Place appropriately sized sticks into the pre-drilled entrance holes in the outer mold piece, as shown at left, to ensure the concrete hive will have entrance holes. Let the concrete cure for at least 24 hours |
6. Remove the sticks from the entrance holes (make sure the holes stay in shape). Remove wedge locks (used to keep the outer mold sides together), & remove the side pieces - all that will now be left in place is the inner mold (see directly below)
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7. Above left is the KTBH body with the outer mold removed, but the inner mold is still in place. Allow hive to cure for 24 hours & then turn over & place it, for another 24 hours, on a layer of dried grass-- to keep it from sticking to the ground. |
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Above is the finished hive body after the inner mold has been removed. |
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Moist-looking areas above show where fresh cement was used to
mend some cracks that had formed. |
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| Now the hive is ready for topbars-- one of the main tips for top bars is they should be made from a strong durable wood, such as Acacia. Once in place, the top bars should be covered with a lid made from tin, plastic or any typical water-proof roofing material. During the time of year when bees are swarming & searching for nesting sites, place the hive in a suitable spot (somewhere protected from full sun, basically, the same kind of place where you wouldn't mind spending the whole day). Place the hive on a suitably strong stand (many beekeepers use cinder blocks). Rub the interior of the hive with lemon grass & bees wax & do the same thing at the hive entrance-- this will help to attract a swarm. Alternatively, set out bait boxes, about the size of a jerry can. The boxes can be made of relatively cheap materials like styrofoam or raffia fronds (even cardboard boxes-- or old jerry cans themselves-- will work). | |
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| (Bees prefer shelters that are protected from the wind & sun that are about 3 meters off the ground) Rub the bait boxes with lemon grass & beeswax as described above. Kids can be encouraged to make bait boxes and to set them out & monitor them for the prospect of a bounty paid to them for any swarms attracted into their lures. As soon as possible after a bait box is colonized, wrap it, after sundown, in a tarp or screen &, wearing your protective clothing, carefully transport it to where your concrete hive is set up. Remove the lid & some top bars & pour the bees into the concrete hive. Replace the top bars & the lid. If there are any bees left in the bait box, leave it at the base of the hive stand-- the bees will climb up to join their sisters. By the next morning all the bees should be settled into their new home. | |
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Five-gallon plastic jerry cans are used for storage & sale of bulk honey. Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, of Mohali Beekeeping in Tamale, has pioneered the use of damaged containers as swarm traps. Like other such traps, they are hung in trees until occupied & then lowered & the bees & combs they have built on top bars are transferred into a Kenya Top Bar Hive. |
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Standard wooden KTBH's can be made from simple KTBH plans.Top bar hives can also be constructed from sticks and covered with daub-- rather than using more costly lumber. Stick hives are often called Ethiopian Top Bar Hives or Nuru Hive. Plans for Ethiopian Top Bar Hives or Nuru Hives are based on traditional methods of home construction with which elders of the community are often familiar. |
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Clay pot hives are yet another traditional beekeeping technology that does not depend on wood resources. The following is adapted from text by Mary Liz Watson, U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, Ghana: Mary participated in a Peace Corps seminar on using clay pots for hives. Such pots aren't common in southern Ghana but, in 2012, sold for between 3 & 8 ghc in the Northern Region (depending on the size-- & one's bargaining skills). The photo above, right shows how a piece of plastic between the bottom & top clay pots can be used to restrict access to the upper pot until bees have filled the larger hive with comb. The larger pot has been drilled with . The larger pot was made in Bolga & cost 10 GHC & the smaller pot was made in the Northern Region & cost 3 GHC. The Bolga pots are much lighter & seem easier to drill through. Pots like this are very difficult to come by in southern Ghana. I spoke to two PCVs, one in Eastern Region & one in Western Region, who could only find the bowls for 50 GHC. A video about using these hives is available at How to Construct a Claypot Hive - Peace Corps Ghana - YouTube
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The key to moveable comb hives is the use of appropriately constructed top bars |
