Bee Keeping worth investing – School Principal, Mrs Adekoya, charges Abotokio Farmers

Abotokio Group

The Principal of Multilateral Grammar School, Okun-Owa in Odogbolu LGA of Ogun East Senatorial District, Mrs Adekoya, on Monday, 27th September, 2021 noted that honey which is one of the by-products of beekeeping has become a lucrative business worth investing.

Mrs Adekoya while addressing the visiting Abotokio Agro Village Farmers Association, Abotokio Beekeeping Unit, stated that if the Beekeeping Curriculum Enrichment Scheme is fully supported by school s’ Managements, it is going to be a great opportunity for the students to learn the act and practice of Beekeeping from the School, thereby giving them income generation and employment opportunities.

The Abotokio Group

Corroborating, the Bee Abroad Coordinator in the school, Mr Joseph Àjàyí, stressed the relevance of Beekeeping in the curricular of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, considering the last Senior School Certificate Examinations on  Animal Husbandry that contained good number of  questions on Beekeeping.

“Infact, all the questions were in accordance with the methodologies of Bee Abroad such that the examination became a walk over for the students who have shown interest in Bee Keeping.

The palm oil boiler

“The result was that nearly all our Apiary students got distinctions (A3) in Animal Husbandry in the 2021 SSCE due to their experiences in the Bees Abroad Beekeeping project in the School”.

As a way of guiding the visiting team, Ajayí highlighted notable threats combated during the project implementation process in the School as unveiled through the evaluation session, among which were Uncontrolled and intentional bush burning, Herdsmen invasion into the Apiary and Hives vandalisation, as well as  Honey robbery.

Water storage bought from the proceeds of the School Bee Keeping project through Bee Abroad UK

The team members; Mr Solomon Ogunrombi, Mrs Elizabeth Odunyemi Bankole, Mr Abel Ayinla  Ogunrombi, Mrs Abosede Afuape, Mr Simon Fakeye (Journalist, NUJ, Ogun State Council), Prince Elijah Asade, were conducted round the School, accompanied by 20 students of the school, by Messers Babatunde Oreyemi, Adenola Fasasi and Ajibola.

At the directives of the Principal, colonies of the project embarked on by the group (students of Multilateral School) through Bees Abroad UK were shown to us, and preventive measures were analysed on how their hive stands were protected against ants.

In his response, the team leader, Prince Elijah Asade, appreciated the Principal, Mrs Adekoya for her accommodating and hospitable nature, as well as her genuine interest in Bee Keeping.

“We’re overwhelmed by the warm welcome you accorded us, and your special interest in the teaching and business of Bee Keeping in secondary schools, in particular.

“We have got to commend you for allowing us to tour your school Apiary by which we have seen and learned the way to go. From the tour, we realized that the importance of Oil Palm and Plantains Plantation with other melliferous plants that supported the Beekeeping Practice in the School can’t be over emphasized.

“We give it to the students for comporting themselves during the Apiary visitation, an evidence that they really understood the basic rules guiding Apiary inspection.

“It has become imperative for more teachers to develop business mindset on Bee Keeping considering its health and economic importance in reducing unemployment in the world over.

“Also, we are encouraged by the fact that proceed of the prototype project  through the efforts of Bees Abroad UK was invested back into the School”.

 The team also  had a brief visitation to a Beekeeper’s Apiary, Mr Freeman Ebebude Victory who has benefited from the Bees Abroad UK’s project with four Beehives.