Meet Kerugoya's 'bee man'

Mutuota Mugo is a University of Nairobi trained agriculturalist, who has mastered the skill of constructing hives and the art of wooing bees to swarm into new hives.

Through his firm, Kirinyaga Beekeeping Services, Mugo has constructed hundreds of hives and guided farmers on setting up apiaries, managing bees, effective honey harvesting and making wax.

Mugo is also a veritable environmentalist, every day in his line of duty he sensitises farmers on importance of planting indigenous trees to sustain a thriving apiary by providing pollen that bees use to make honey.

Mugo laments that due to changing times and lifestyles, man has felled down forests of indigenous trees and replaced them with coffee, bananas and sometimes exotic trees such as gravilea robusta, which are not rich in pollen.

It is this passion he has to conserve the environment that has seen Mugo train farmers, for the last 10 years, in his Kerugoya town area in a bid to pass on this knowledge.

“Bees are environmentally friendly. They help pollinate vegetables and fruit trees, leading to higher yields. There is no damage to the environment, and bees have been shown to deter other pests and larger predators, such as elephants,” he says.

Mugo teaches that beekeeping does not require a huge piece of land since bees can move even 10km away in search of pollen.

“Even a small piece of land can do. A farmer or a group can keep an apiary of about 25 hives spaced about 15km to the next one to avoid exhausting pollen hence lower production. An apiary should be fenced to keep away intruders who can provoke bees to attack people,” he opines.

Mugo urges farmers to oil their hives and stakes to wad off ants that destroy hives, and to install deters to keep off honey badgers.