Training Helps Beekeeper Succeed, Plan to Breed
Beekeeping in Azerbaijan dates back to historic times. Despite long years of involvement in this particular area of agriculture, modern-day beekeeping is beset by obstacles that slow the development of this potential sector.
Badraddin Hasratov started his bee colony at the age of 27 in Gakh, one of the traditional beekeeping regions in Azerbaijan. Hasratov’s first contact with bees occurred while he was grazing sheep. The discovery of a natural bee colony inspired him to change his line of work. Much effort, time, money, and tireless care helped Hasratov expand his beehive colony from one to 60 beehives. Unfortunately, using traditional approach methods and constructing outdated beehives while facing disease, mites, and other challenges, his yield capacity declined year-by-year. Lacking ample knowledge regarding disease control and modern apicultural trends, Hasratov realized that he needed to improve his expertise for his business to survive.
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Badraddin (center, kneeling) admires his new queen cell frame, constructed with assistance from USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer project
Photo Credit: ACDI VOCA |
Last year, Hasratov and other beekeepers participated in a beekeeper training organized by USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer project, implemented by ACDI/VOCA. After the training, Hasratov was able to reconstruct his beehives and expand his beekeeping society. “Ann Harman, the Farmer-to-Farmer volunteer consultant, taught us a lot of tricks for managing bees and beehives. Both are very delicate and need extra care,” he reports with satisfaction.
Harman’s method for controlling acarapitosis disease with a compound that can be prepared at home is far more adoptable and efficient than expensive medical treatments. Following her strategy to control mite population in beehives, Hasratov and his fellow beekeepers were able to reduce mite infestation by 80 percent, which indirectly led to a 30 percent increase in total yield.
Recently, Hasratov benefited from another volunteer’s expertise in queen rearing. His enthusiasm has encouraged the project to provide him with more technical assistance in pedigreed bee breeding technologies, as no such facility currently exists Azerbaijan.
Since 1996, USAID’s Farmer-to-Farmer project provides voluntary technical assistance to farmers, farm groups, and agribusinesses to promote sustainable improvement in food processing, production, and marketing.
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