Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on May 5, 2012 22:39:19 GMT 1
The International Labour Organisation projected last year that about 27 mil-lion more people will lose their jobs as a result of the global economic crisis. That projection is now taking effect in the banking industry. So many bankers have lost their jobs in recent times, with no money to start their own business or hope of finding job, elsewhere.
But wealth creation through agriculture, especially from beekeeping, remains practically untapped among educated Nigerians despite the high level of unemployment in the country.
A lecturer at the College of Plant Science and Crop Production, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Dr Osipitan Adebola Adedoyin, has advised them to venture into beekeeping to meet their financial needs.
He gave the advice in Abeokuta, Ogun State, when he spoke with The Nation.
According to him, the global economic crisis may be prolonged for up to seven years in developing countries such as Nigeria, and over 70 per cent of the population is likely to experience abject poverty as a result of the crisis. Therefore, there is no better time than now to divert more attention and investment into agriculture to salvage the unfortunate situation created by "keeping our eggs in one basket".
He said: "The absolute reliance on revenue from oil and other oil products with its attendant abandoning of agriculture is a peril that has caused great damage and embarrassment to our nation. It has now been established by renowned economists all over the world that the so-called take-home packages of most workers could not take them beyond the ‘collection point." He stressed the need to engage in at least one secondary work outside the primary one. In this era. Wisdom demands that we should enlarge our source of revenue to cope with global dwindling fortune of nations with its attendant escalating prices of goods and commodities. Those who find themselves in the labour market as a result of the current economic melt down should, therefore, catch the opportunity provided by beekeeping. Beekeeping is not capital intensive, the initial cost of establishing a bee colony is minimal and affordable; the investment is worth its returns and the venture is environmentally friendly. The time to tap wealth from bee-keeping is now. start something now.
"The current global economic meltdown is biting hard on nations, organisations, businesses, families and homes. The rate of divorce and crisis at homes has been estimated to increase by five per cent in the last six months of economic meltdown. All emphasis has been laid on crude oil, while lip service was paid to exploration, processing and marketing of the 34 solid minerals the country has in commercial quantity. Agriculture, mining, manufacturing have been pushed to the background and were given little attention and execution in national policies. The estimated 140 million people in the country are likely to experience abject poverty as a result of the current global economic crisis that may be prolonged for up to seven years. There is no better time than now to divert more attention and investment into agriculture to salvage the unfortunate situation created by keeping our "eggs in a basket.
"However, insects hitherto regarded as pest that destroy, annoy, transmit diseases, reduces quality and quantity of crop yield, after all, have some economic benefits. Economic entomology deals with exploration and manipulation of insects to gain financial returns. The keeping and managing of beneficial insects such as honey bee, silk worm larva etc, has, therefore erased the general perception that all insects are destructive.
"Wealth from beekeeping remains practically untapped. The bees naturally live in tree hollows in the forest and greatly multiply on daily basis (a queen could lay up to 1,500 eggs per day) and search for hives or hollows to colonize. No wonder we see swarms of bees on daily basis in streets searching for hives to colonise. The investment of 20,000 on bee-keeping could fetch N40,000 within three months from honey harvest alone. "Honey bees Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is the most widely distributed genus of the bee specie and the most economical. They are social insect that live in colonies and differentiated into different castes namely the queen, the drone and the workers.
"Beekeeping is renowned because of honey yield from the practice. Honey consists of 80 per cent simple sugar that is readily absorbed by the body and is savored because to its taste as well as its health benefits. It is a complex substance with significant variation depending on the source and could contain 0.5 – 1 per cent protein, Energy of 318 – 321 Kcal along with other constituents such as traces of minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Honey is the earliest sweetener that is also used in the treatment of wound, cough, throat ailments; it also has preventive and curative effects for several ailments such as measles, gastro-intestinal disturbances, diarrhea etc. Honey is an international trade commodity and there is ready market for quality honey. Other bee hive products such as propolis, beeswax, bee venom could be got from bee-keeping.
"Propolis is an important product collected by the bee and has gained a lot of recognition and attracted public interest over the years. It is a wax-like resinous substance collected by the bees from tree buds or other botanical sources and used as cement to seal cracks or open spaces in hives. It has biological properties and its colour varies from green to brown and red depending on the source. It is sticky at and above room temperature and at lower temperature it becomes hard and very brittle. Despite the variation in active constituents of propolis from different plant origin, they have the same effect. In the hive, propolis reinforce structural stability, reduces vibration, makes hives more defensible by sealing alternate entrances and prevents hive against diseases and parasites. Propolis has been subject of recent scientific investigation due to its biological properties such as antibiotics, antifungal, anti-inflammation, anesthetic, healing, immunomodulatory, antioxidant and cacinostatic properties. It was reported to have over 200 constituents in its waxes and resins that made it a "veritable cascade of aromatic nutrient" remarkable for combating all type of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi). Typical propolis has approximately 50 per cent resin and vegetable balsams, 30 per cent waxes, 10 per cent essential oils and 5 per cent pollens. Compounds such as sinapic acid, isoferulic acid and caffiec acid were reported to confer the anti-bacterial properties on propolis. Propolis is used for several purposes as traditional medicine and was reported to reduce the chances of cataract in the eyes and effective in relief of many inflammations, healing of superficial bumps or scalds, curing of viral diseases, ulcer, treatment of allergies and sore throat and improvement of heart health. It was also reported to be effective in the treatment of skin burns and canker sore diseases and protect against caries and other forms of oral diseases due to its antimicrobial properties.
"Beeswax, a product from bee keeping is a substance secreted by worker honey bees from four pairs of glands on the underside of their abdomen and used for the construction of honey comb. Pure bee wax is made of only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, all of which are readily available from the honey that bees consume. It is white in its purest form, but we know it as yellow substance because it is stained by materials in the pollens and propolis that naturally contaminate it. Honey bees mix gums and resins from plants with wax and this gives it strength and antibacterial qualities. Beeswax is a stable material; samples thousand years old have been found to have deteriorated very little and were nearly identical with that produced today. Beeswax traditionally commanded three to five times the price of an equal weight of honey. The price paid mostly depend on its colour; dark wax attract less price as it contains more contaminants especially propolis. One-to-two kg of wax is usually produced from every 15 kg of honey extracted. Beeswax could be used in making of candle grafting wax, lithographic ink, lithographic crayon, laundries, mastic varnish, metal composition polish, shoe polish, shoe repairing , tailoring, textiles, water proofing, winter-sport equipment, floor polish, glassware manufacturing, comb foundation, confectionary, dental wax, electrical industries ,modeling, pharmaceutical preparations (such as ointments and cerates), sealing wax, phonograph records, process engraving and lithographing, carbon paper, cutlery manufacturing, cosmetics, encaustic painting among others," he said.
Source:
thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/32554/1/Exploring-beekeeping-for-wealth/Page1.html
Learn more about beekeeping in Nigeria @ THE THY AGRO-ALLIED ENTERPRISES beekeepinginnigeria.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=76
But wealth creation through agriculture, especially from beekeeping, remains practically untapped among educated Nigerians despite the high level of unemployment in the country.
A lecturer at the College of Plant Science and Crop Production, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Dr Osipitan Adebola Adedoyin, has advised them to venture into beekeeping to meet their financial needs.
He gave the advice in Abeokuta, Ogun State, when he spoke with The Nation.
According to him, the global economic crisis may be prolonged for up to seven years in developing countries such as Nigeria, and over 70 per cent of the population is likely to experience abject poverty as a result of the crisis. Therefore, there is no better time than now to divert more attention and investment into agriculture to salvage the unfortunate situation created by "keeping our eggs in one basket".
He said: "The absolute reliance on revenue from oil and other oil products with its attendant abandoning of agriculture is a peril that has caused great damage and embarrassment to our nation. It has now been established by renowned economists all over the world that the so-called take-home packages of most workers could not take them beyond the ‘collection point." He stressed the need to engage in at least one secondary work outside the primary one. In this era. Wisdom demands that we should enlarge our source of revenue to cope with global dwindling fortune of nations with its attendant escalating prices of goods and commodities. Those who find themselves in the labour market as a result of the current economic melt down should, therefore, catch the opportunity provided by beekeeping. Beekeeping is not capital intensive, the initial cost of establishing a bee colony is minimal and affordable; the investment is worth its returns and the venture is environmentally friendly. The time to tap wealth from bee-keeping is now. start something now.
"The current global economic meltdown is biting hard on nations, organisations, businesses, families and homes. The rate of divorce and crisis at homes has been estimated to increase by five per cent in the last six months of economic meltdown. All emphasis has been laid on crude oil, while lip service was paid to exploration, processing and marketing of the 34 solid minerals the country has in commercial quantity. Agriculture, mining, manufacturing have been pushed to the background and were given little attention and execution in national policies. The estimated 140 million people in the country are likely to experience abject poverty as a result of the current global economic crisis that may be prolonged for up to seven years. There is no better time than now to divert more attention and investment into agriculture to salvage the unfortunate situation created by keeping our "eggs in a basket.
"However, insects hitherto regarded as pest that destroy, annoy, transmit diseases, reduces quality and quantity of crop yield, after all, have some economic benefits. Economic entomology deals with exploration and manipulation of insects to gain financial returns. The keeping and managing of beneficial insects such as honey bee, silk worm larva etc, has, therefore erased the general perception that all insects are destructive.
"Wealth from beekeeping remains practically untapped. The bees naturally live in tree hollows in the forest and greatly multiply on daily basis (a queen could lay up to 1,500 eggs per day) and search for hives or hollows to colonize. No wonder we see swarms of bees on daily basis in streets searching for hives to colonise. The investment of 20,000 on bee-keeping could fetch N40,000 within three months from honey harvest alone. "Honey bees Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is the most widely distributed genus of the bee specie and the most economical. They are social insect that live in colonies and differentiated into different castes namely the queen, the drone and the workers.
"Beekeeping is renowned because of honey yield from the practice. Honey consists of 80 per cent simple sugar that is readily absorbed by the body and is savored because to its taste as well as its health benefits. It is a complex substance with significant variation depending on the source and could contain 0.5 – 1 per cent protein, Energy of 318 – 321 Kcal along with other constituents such as traces of minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Honey is the earliest sweetener that is also used in the treatment of wound, cough, throat ailments; it also has preventive and curative effects for several ailments such as measles, gastro-intestinal disturbances, diarrhea etc. Honey is an international trade commodity and there is ready market for quality honey. Other bee hive products such as propolis, beeswax, bee venom could be got from bee-keeping.
"Propolis is an important product collected by the bee and has gained a lot of recognition and attracted public interest over the years. It is a wax-like resinous substance collected by the bees from tree buds or other botanical sources and used as cement to seal cracks or open spaces in hives. It has biological properties and its colour varies from green to brown and red depending on the source. It is sticky at and above room temperature and at lower temperature it becomes hard and very brittle. Despite the variation in active constituents of propolis from different plant origin, they have the same effect. In the hive, propolis reinforce structural stability, reduces vibration, makes hives more defensible by sealing alternate entrances and prevents hive against diseases and parasites. Propolis has been subject of recent scientific investigation due to its biological properties such as antibiotics, antifungal, anti-inflammation, anesthetic, healing, immunomodulatory, antioxidant and cacinostatic properties. It was reported to have over 200 constituents in its waxes and resins that made it a "veritable cascade of aromatic nutrient" remarkable for combating all type of pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi). Typical propolis has approximately 50 per cent resin and vegetable balsams, 30 per cent waxes, 10 per cent essential oils and 5 per cent pollens. Compounds such as sinapic acid, isoferulic acid and caffiec acid were reported to confer the anti-bacterial properties on propolis. Propolis is used for several purposes as traditional medicine and was reported to reduce the chances of cataract in the eyes and effective in relief of many inflammations, healing of superficial bumps or scalds, curing of viral diseases, ulcer, treatment of allergies and sore throat and improvement of heart health. It was also reported to be effective in the treatment of skin burns and canker sore diseases and protect against caries and other forms of oral diseases due to its antimicrobial properties.
"Beeswax, a product from bee keeping is a substance secreted by worker honey bees from four pairs of glands on the underside of their abdomen and used for the construction of honey comb. Pure bee wax is made of only carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, all of which are readily available from the honey that bees consume. It is white in its purest form, but we know it as yellow substance because it is stained by materials in the pollens and propolis that naturally contaminate it. Honey bees mix gums and resins from plants with wax and this gives it strength and antibacterial qualities. Beeswax is a stable material; samples thousand years old have been found to have deteriorated very little and were nearly identical with that produced today. Beeswax traditionally commanded three to five times the price of an equal weight of honey. The price paid mostly depend on its colour; dark wax attract less price as it contains more contaminants especially propolis. One-to-two kg of wax is usually produced from every 15 kg of honey extracted. Beeswax could be used in making of candle grafting wax, lithographic ink, lithographic crayon, laundries, mastic varnish, metal composition polish, shoe polish, shoe repairing , tailoring, textiles, water proofing, winter-sport equipment, floor polish, glassware manufacturing, comb foundation, confectionary, dental wax, electrical industries ,modeling, pharmaceutical preparations (such as ointments and cerates), sealing wax, phonograph records, process engraving and lithographing, carbon paper, cutlery manufacturing, cosmetics, encaustic painting among others," he said.
Source:
thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/32554/1/Exploring-beekeeping-for-wealth/Page1.html
Learn more about beekeeping in Nigeria @ THE THY AGRO-ALLIED ENTERPRISES beekeepinginnigeria.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=76