Bees on the farm

When we started the project four years ago, traditional beehives (empty tree trunks) were mounted on some baobab trees, but they were all empty. Then we dug water catchment ditches and small ponds and planted thousands of trees, etc. By storing much more water in the soil, of course, much more grows and blooms. Bees need two things: enough food within a radius of a few kilometers, and secure access to water. They find both in abundance here.

This has led to more and more bees moving onto our property. In crevices in the ground, in tree holes, wherever they have space. On the one hand, this is great, but if the bees build their nest directly on a path in a crevice in the floor, or directly above the door to the office, it can be dangerous. African wild bees are known in South America as "killer bees" because they are much more aggressive than European honey bees. That's why we've now started putting up hives to better control where the bees nest - and besides, we actually get honey that way. The first hive we put up was occupied after a few hours! Right now we have five beehives on our farm, and more are coming!