Bee keeping by Keairra Smith
The interns from the Ministry of Agriculture were introduced to Beekeepers – Mr. Brent Georges/Project Coordinator of the Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. Jahmal Colbourne/Plant Protection Officer, at the old BBC Relay Station. They went on to educate the interns about bee keeping.
In Antigua we have Caucasian, Italian as well as European bees. On the eastern side of Antigua, we have darker and more aggressive bees, but thankfully we do not have killer bees. In a colony there are 3 types of bees: drone, workers and queen bees who has the ability to produce 2000 bees per day. Brood boxes play the role of a nursery for the eggs, larvae and baby bees, while the super box is where most the honey is stored.
The also interns got the opportunity of putting wax films into the trays. Mr. Georges recalled that the largest hives he has seen was in Freetown at Half Moon Bay and Five Islands and for Mr. Colbourne it would be around seven pounds or the equivalent of 60,000 bees.
Minister of Agriculture Hon. Anthony Smith Jr. came and gave a few inspiring and motivating words to the interns “Anything we can do to support young people and their interest in agriculture the government through Ministry of Agriculture is always there to assist”. He entered the hive with the interns and held the colony trays. The interns got an opportunity to capture queen bees and got a taste of honey. Safe to say they enjoyed the experience.
Bee Kind. Bee Natural. Bee A Keeper!
Let It Bee, Pure Honey, Pure Love
