There is a variety of bee-hives on the market. There is the langstroth, which is rectangular, the top bar hive, which is triangular and the modern hive or the Kenyan top bar, which is also triangular.
Modern hives go for about sh150,000-sh200,000 (not colonised). These can be got from dealers around the country. Colonised hives cost sh200,000 and above. The modern hives can produce as much as 20kg of honey per year.
However, you can make your own hive using materials readily available on your farm. But these are not rated as commercially viable if one wants to do commercial apiary, because they produce little honey, on average 3-4kg per year.
A hive made using tree logs is called a log hive. Any tree log can do. All you need to do is cut the log to a length of four feet and create a hollow using a chisel.
Both sides of the log are sealed using light wood to leave small openings through which the bees can access the hives.
When harvest time comes, the log is split open using a panga and the honeycombs removed.
If you want to use the same logs again, you join two hollow logs and at the time of harvest, you separate them, remove the honeycombs and stitch them using wires and wood gum in preparation for the next harvest.
You can also use banana fibres to make cheap hives. This is when flexible sticks like reeds and papyrus are woven together in a conical shape.
The outside is then smeared with wet muddy soil mixed with cow dung. Both ends of the cone are sealed with leads made out of banana fibre and grass.
Other bee-hives that can be made using grass or gourds. The gourd hive is basically a large gourd in which small holes are punctured to allow for movement of bees.
The gourd is positioned in a tree. Although these improvised hives do not harvest as much as the top bars, they can sufficiently meet your family’s honey needs and even save some for sale.
