Ministry to hold bee-keepers certification course

The Apiculture industry in the Ministry of Agriculture will be holding a “Beginners’ Certification Training Course” on Thursday, February 26 at the Technical College in Arnos Vale.{{more}}

The objective of this training course is to promote the development of the apiculture industry here in SVG and to encourage new farmers to get involved in bee-keeping.

During the training, farmers will be introduced to the basic activities and knowledge of practical bee-keeping.

The apiculture industry deals primarily with the production and sale of honey. It has an estimated wholesale value of $180 per gallon and retail value of $240 per gallon.

In St Vincent and the Grenadines, the apiculture industry, since 2006, has been growing by leaps and bounds, as concerted efforts with focused programming were instituted to develop the sub-sector as one that is of importance to agriculture and, by extension, economic growth and development.

The overall contribution of the apiculture sector to the economy in itself may be very difficult to determine. Not only the production of honey, but to a much greater degree, the pollination of tree crops and vegetables and other important plant species will safely surpass a value of over $800,000 in SVG.

Up to January 2015, the industry supported a total of 484 domesticated colonies among 41 apiaries reported that were managed by 60 bee-keepers, 11 of whom are considered commercial producers. Apiculture is a niche sector in agriculture where the phobia for bee stings is still a critical issue among the general farming population.

However, the general phobia for bees had presented a meaningful advantage since bee-keeping may be the only sector in agriculture not yet suffering from the plague of high theft and vandalism.