4.2.20 Indigenous Knowledge of BeekeepingIn Bure district, beekeepers have rich indigenous knowledge on hive management <strong>and</strong> utilizationof hive products. According to the responses of the respondents, the indigenous knowledge usedby the beekeepers in the study areas includes controlling reproductive swarming, prevention <strong>and</strong>minimization of bee stings, strengthening of colony, bee product as local medicine, diseaseinvestigation, disease control, reduction of pain of bee stings, biological control of honeybeeenemies, colony multiplication, swarm catching, identification of adulterated honey <strong>and</strong>increasing shelf life of honey (Table 23) but some of this indigenous knowledge need to besupported by scientific findings.68
Table 23: Indigenous knowledge of beekeepersDescriptionsReproductiveswarmingBee stingpreventionBee sting painminimizationBee colonystrengthenBee product aslocal medicineDiseaseinvestigationDisease controlAdulteratedhoneyHoneyharvestingseasonIncrease shelflife of honeyIndigenous knowledgeFumigation with bone of dead mule <strong>and</strong> horse, white ‘itan’, wheat bran <strong>and</strong> plantmaterials, spraying urine of mule, removal of queen cells, increase hive volume,rubbing with ‘kega’(Rosa abissiniac), ‘keseye (Lippia adoensis), ‘Zikakibe (Ocimumbasilicum), kebercho, <strong>and</strong> ‘Tosign’ (Lhymus schimperi)Protective materials, naked body, smear h<strong>and</strong> with honey, smoking <strong>and</strong> sprayingof milk <strong>and</strong> water, put cloth near hive for adaptation, <strong>and</strong> avoid smellingmaterials (perfume, lemon…), black clothRemoval of stinging apparatus, eating young brood, pollen <strong>and</strong>/or honey, drinking ofboiled water <strong>and</strong> honey mixture for vomiting, ointment with fresh soil, honey <strong>and</strong> butterSupplementary feeding (sugar, flour syrup, pepper <strong>and</strong> barley flour), uniting of colony,add brood comb, replacing the weak colony with strong queenStomachache when mix with coffee, inflammation, coughing, malaria, anthrax, tonsil,heart failed, source of energy, vomiting (as a mixture of honey <strong>and</strong> coffee) <strong>and</strong> cattlediseasesVisual observation: decrease of colony, mass death of honeybees, unusual buzz of bees,bad smell of brood, disability of flyingCleaning of apiary <strong>and</strong> hives, no entering into apiary from June to September,transferring the diseased colony to new hives, removal <strong>and</strong> burning of old brood <strong>and</strong>diseased colony, fumigation of ‘white itan’ (gum of Boswellia papyrifera)Incomplete burning of honey when heated, unusual color, bad aroma <strong>and</strong> test, notgranulatedObservation (honey aroma, cluster of bees outside the hive, opening of the hive),decline of foraging activities, ventilation of the hive by bees, knocking the hives, deathof dronesUsing plastic bucket, plastic sack, gourd, <strong>and</strong> glass materials69