THE Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with Association of Caribbean Beekeepers’ Organisation (ACBO) and Guyana Apiculture Society (GAS) recently concluded the Beekeeping Congress 2018, a five-day workshop, which was held at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA). The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) also played a pivotal role in the endeavour, organising and providing some of the much-needed resources for the occasion.

At the forum, there was much dialogue over the beekeeping industry in Guyana, as well as the rest of the Caribbean nations. In fact, the discussions went as far as issues coming out the United States of America, which was also well represented at the Congress.

Under the theme, “Natural Beekeeping for a Green Caribbean”, the Congress catered for around 200 participants. The Guyanese had participants from every administrative region in Guyana; while other participants travelled from Trinidad and Tobago, St, Lucia, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Dominica, Belize, The Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and other Caribbean islands, as well as from the United States of America.

This biennial congress began in Tobago in November 1998; continued in Nevis in 2000; Jamaica in 2002; in 2005 it was once again held in Trinidad; Guyana in 2008; then in Grenada in 2011; the US Virgin Islands in 2013; Tobago in 2016 and once more it was held in Guyana.

A GREEN ECONOMY
The Guyana Apiculture Society (GAS), one of the major players in the Congress, was formed 10 years ago, with the intention of not only widening the scope of beekeeping in Guyana but also with the purpose of getting many other young people on board.

The GAS executive members Linden Stewart and Aubrey Roberts told the Pepperpot Magazine that the organisation has so far been very successful in its endeavours and this was evident in the number of young people who have gotten involved.

Roberts said that when the Ministry of Agriculture organised the fifth congress, one of the objectives was to really get beekeepers back together; to start working as a group and to build capacity. GAS was therefore created and took off on a programme of education, networking, marketing and advocacy.

Stewart, Executive Member of GAS also led a discussion on the topic ‘Towards a green economy through beekeeping’. He told the participants that the intention of GAS was to build on the achievement that they have made since the fifth congress in 2008 Congress that was held in Guyana, culminating with that of 2018.

CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE
“One of the real benefits of the series of Caribbean beekeeping congresses, which has been borne out by experience since this is the ninth one, is that it causes governments, institutions and organisations to evaluate their own policy positions – what you have done and sometimes to review their own contributions and if necessary step it up… to commit themselves,” Gladstone Solomon, Chairman of the Association of Caribbean Beekeepers’ Organisation (ACBO), Trinidad and Tobago, said. “We have seen before in each host country there is a ramping up of beekeeping and after the congress, it maintains a level before it dies down. If there was no congress in that country it may have just ‘flat-line’.”

He stated that while it has to be confirmed, Bahamas has made a decision to host the next congress, which should be in 2020 and that ACBO is already speaking to another country for the hosting of the 2022 congress. Ideally, ACBO is hoping to give themselves a four-year lead so that may be many opportunities for the country to embark on projects, ramp up their policy, putting things in place.

Solomon said that the overall beneficiaries of the host countries must be the beekeeping sector of that country and also the region in general. Apart from that, beekeepers have the opportunity to meet others that they had not seen before, or that they had not seen in a while. This he said is one of the very strong intangibles.

“In every country in the world, apart from Arctic [countries] there are beekeepers; bees have a built-in tendency to cluster together; to work together towards a common goal and believes that some of that also rubs off on beekeepers,” Solomon posited.

He noted that with the support coming from the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana is indeed poised for a green economy, with beekeeping playing a great role in that.

Prospects of beekeeping
At the opening, the Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder addressed the gathering. There were also remarks coming from the Ministry of Business; the Guyana Livestock Development Association (GLDA); the Georgetown Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), and other key stakeholders. All the remarks were geared at encouraging participants towards serious involvement in the business of beekeeping and also building capacity.

The activities for every day were all geared towards capacity building and covered topics which sought to inform beekeepers, as well as potential beekeepers on the various aspects of beekeeping, honey harvesting and the many different by-products of honey.

There were arranged mangrove beekeeping tours, as well as tours to the rainforest beekeeping sites. These tours lasted for the entire day, with participants being able to view the operations of actual apiaries at various locations in many parts of Guyana.

Some of the participants, who had their first experience with an actual apiary, told the Guyana Chronicle that it was not just a new experience, but one that they hope to follow through with, having apiaries of their own. Some said that they have even begun to consult with the GAS and ACBO executive to assist them in setting up their beekeeping enterprises. (mercilinburke2017@gmail.com)