Ten (10) farmers benefit from MALF’s beekeeping training course in Ecclesville

‘Introduction to Beekeeping’ training course at the Rio Claro Demonstration Station in Ecclesville.

Over the last five (5) months, ten (10) farmers from across four (4) counties in Trinidad, received training in introductory beekeeping from staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries’ Rio Claro Demonstration Station (RCDS) in Ecclesville. The RCDS, which places a lot of emphasis on apiculture, maintains of an apiary with the objective of providing practical training in beekeeping as part of the Nariva/Mayaro County’s Programme of Work for extension services.

The training took place between January and May 2021 and was facilitated by Agricultural Assistant II (Ag.), Mr. Jeremy Ramdass and Apiarist, Mr. Dudnath Durga. It spanned a total of four (4) sessions which covered the following topics: registration of apiaries and other component legislation; site selection; equipment and personal protective equipment; apiary management; nuclei production; major pests and diseases affecting bees; feeding and foraging of bees in addition to hive, box and frame construction.

Concurrent to this training was the RCDS’s production of start-up hives (nuclei), seven (7) of which were sold to beekeepers during the period May 2020 – May 2021. A nuclei, which consists of a queen bee, workers and drone bees, honey, pollen, sealed and unsealed brood, has a production time of approximately three (3) months but may take longer depending on weather conditions.