The latest initiative for the Apimondia Regional Commission has been the Beekeeping in Schools Initiative Pilot project at Muzokomba Government High School in Buhera – Zimbabwe. The project encourages school children to start appreciating the role of bees and discover potential career opportunities they can offer.

The training has been extended to six neighbouring schools, that will establish a cluster of local schools in beekeeping. It is hoped this will lead to commercial honey production that can subsidise the school fees paid by the students. Two Secondary Schools (Mukodza and Murove) and four Primary Schools (Muzokomba, Mzilikazi, Murove and Zvenyika) each sent a student for the week-long training.

The training did not disappoint. The children made 77 Top Bar Hives and seven Trap Boxes in four days, being limited only by the timber running out!

The training included beekeeping overview, covering a number of topics such as different types of hives and their advantages and disadvantages, bee anatomy, colony composition, importance of bees, bee pests and diseases, and honey processing and marketing. 

One of the mains goals is create awareness on how beekeeping can be used to protect the environment and contribute towards curbing climate change. The initiative ended with a tree planting at Muzokomba High School and Murove Primary School in December. The tree planting drive coincided with Zimbabwe National Tree Planting Day – held every first week of December. The Forestry Commission – Buhera District donated tree seedlings and committed more seedlings to be distributed to other schools.