Value Chains research report Tajikistan final - Microfinance Centre

• Attacks by common bee eater (bird eating bees and causing great damage to
beekeeping sector).
Usually honey collecting season begins in the second half of March; in the
South of Tajikistan the season starts in early spring (see seasonality data in Table 52).
Mass harvest starts in April-May (fruit trees, etc.). Caligonum, wild alfalfa, poppies and
bean caperbush start blooming in arid and semi-arid areas; tulips, almonds, hawthorn
and cherry plum in the mountains. False acacia and fruit trees – in oasis areas. Also,
in April beekeepers must look for new place to collect honey, as the yield in oasis
areas is dropping rapidly. As days get warmer and amounts of nectar and pollen
increase, bee families grow quickly. At this time, additional comb foundation needs to
be prepared – six frames per bee family. Honey yield ends in late August –
September. In the first or second ten days of August beekeepers conduct final honey
loosening and take measures to grow strength of bee families for the winter.
Beekeeper must monitor nectar weight increases in the control family on a daily
basis, discard old frames and melt them into wax. Father families are marked for
growing drones and inseminating young autumn-born females.
In September, bee houses are taken to wintering grounds or to residual nectarbearing
plants – these may be melons or yulgun bush. These can have enough nectar
to support the bees during winter. During this time, the beekeepers seal all cracks and
slots in the bee houses. The bee houses are thoroughly insulated against cold (using
canvas, pillows), entrances are reduced. If food is not sufficient for the winter, some of
the honey, candy (mixture of honey and sugar powder) or sugar syrup is left for winter;
however, this feeding is a forced measure.
In the subsequent months, until a new season begins, bees are monitored
every two weeks using a rubber hose inserted into bee-house entrance, spare empty
combs are sorted. Backup bee-houses and accessories are repaired, wax is replaced
with comb foundations. Next, beekeepers make up a plan of activities for the next year
and analyze the yield from the past season.
Starting end of February – beginning of March, beekeepers’ work intensifies.
They have to review the bee yard and prepare for the new honey collection season.
The season starts in March in Sughd Region and a little later in other areas. The yield
depends on the bee yard, the strength of bee families, location and weather, and
usually lasts till the end of October. Honey is pumped using centrifuge – this is called
centrifugal method.
Table 52 shows the calendar of beekeepers’ seasonal activities. Analysis shows
that feeding is performed mostly until May-June. Breeding begins at various times in
various districts. This allows preparing bee packs in one district before starting the
same activity in another one; this can be done until June.
When analyzing the production of honey and the data presented in below table,
we can make important conclusions for the purpose of marketing honey and
secondary products. Honey is sold throughout the year, bee families and bee packs –
107