Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007 - (Page 29)

Letter from Jumbi Valley KEEPING BEES A carpenter shall lead them with seven video discs by Greg Dorr J the colony with the least disruption My neighbors delight in their isolation umbi Valley is 10 degrees south of possible. e top-bar system makes and, like many other poor farmers, are the equator in northern Malawi perfect sense and the local residents appropriately reluctant to gamble with at the foot of an escarpment that are eager to and readily adopt the their means of production. Malawi rises 3,500 feet to the 1,500-squaretechnique. e only hard part is is one of the poorest countries in the mile Nyika Plateau and a national park explaining the process and teaching world. Nevertheless, the residents and wildlife refuge of the same name. them how to use and maintain the new of Jumbi Valley are willing to walk Most of the plateau is above 6,000 feet system. Knowing how to properly for an hour and a half to Bolero, a and is home to herds of roan antelope, construct, locate, manage and harvest town with electricity and the “capital” klipspringers, duikers, reedbucks, these new hives is a specialized skill for the Tumbuka’s paramount chief, hartebeest, zebras, warthogs and eland. and takes time to appreciate and learn. Temba la Mtemba Chikulamyembe, e people who live around the park Once acquired, however, the keeper can to see and hear about the construction, are, according to the United Nations, harvest more efficiently and increase his use, placement, maintenance and desperately poor. To add to their income. management of top-bar bee hives. diet, some of them illegally hunt the So, with some support from the U.S. e beekeeping DVDs are primarily animals of the park. e park is also in the Chichewa language, which is Agency for International Development, an extraordinary bee pasturage–where understood by most Tumbukans. But a non-government organization in bees collect nectar, pollen, propolis and there is an interview conducted with a Malawi created seven video discs to water. e surrounding forests, river Tumbuka beekeeper in Chitumbuka accompany a handbook and trainer’s valleys and mountainsides therefore and when the Jumbi Valley beekeepers manual detailing the new beekeeping support a vibrant honeybee population. watch a Tumbuka man speaking on a business. My challenge was how to As an Peace Corps volunteer assigned television screen for the first time, they gather the valley’s bee keepers to show to Malawi’s Department of Parks & are surprised and turn to each other the DVDs. Wildlife, I promote the use of top-bar with proud smiles on their faces. bee hives that could replace poaching hat the dirt road dead-ends here But the most rewarding part of with commercial and sustainable honey is, I think, the source of some this beekeeping business has been production. cultural pride in Jumbi Valley. overcoming the difficulties in just e local honey-gathering method is to cut down a tree, split the trunk and hollow out the middle to create a beehive. A few neighbors harvest wild bees in the park: ey are careful to do as little damage as possible to the colony, take only the honey combs and replace brood combs in hopes the colony will remain and produce more honey for future exploitation, but usually the bees abscond. With each harvest, the comb is destroyed, the hive disrupted and the bees flee. is traditional process contributes to deforestation and reduces productivity for the harvest. A top-bar hive allows the harvester to remove the covering of the hive to get to the combs. Each comb is attached to an individual bar so the keepers can Jumbi Valley’s beekeepers easily embraced new harvesting techniques. collect honey and assess the health of It was harder to find a place to study the techniques on seven video discs. T WorldView 29 Greg Dorr

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007
Contents
President's Note
Lafayette Park
Note to Readers
Commentary
Letter from India
Commentary
Letter from Botswana
Letter from Ha Teboho
Letter from Jumbi Valley
Letter from Mununga
Letter from Medellin
Giving Back
Community News

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

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