Some twenty-five residents from the Port, Railroad, Harmons Valley, South Manchester and Mile Gully Community Councils got the opportunity to learn more about bee-keeping at a training session held at the Mile Gully Primary School recently.
The training was conducted by Regional Beekeeping Officer, Bodles Research Institute, Wayne Anderson. During the training session, the residents were taught the fundamentals of bee keeping, which included bee colony assembly and management, selecting location and honey extraction as well as how to detect when bees are accessing pollen. Mr. Anderson while delivering the training encouraged the group to be diligent and committed as “beekeeping though a low maintenance project, when properly managed can provide excellent returns.
Senior Community Relations Officer, Phillip Biggs, explained that all the participants were grateful for the training which afforded them the hands-on expertise to share information and manage their respective projects as well as it was a reinforcement of what they already learnt. Mr. Anderson has consented to visit individual colonies over the next 6 months as a follow up to the training and so ensure that all the beekeeping projects are operating as outlined.
The bee-keeping projects operated by the Community Councils and sponsored by Jamalco are income generating activities for residents in Jamalco’s operating areas.