Nahl Apiculture is a start-up beekeeping company based in Kampala, Uganda. We specialize in top tier honeycomb sourced directly from the beehive. The range of our products with the same immune boosting & medicinal properties boasts beeswax, bee venom, propolis and pollen. In addition, we supply apiary equipment & training to local and international farmers. With ethical harvesting as our priority, we ensure that we approach it in such a way that the relationship between the farmer and the bee is valued. Equally as important is maintaining good quality products for our trusting customers: you! As we enter the third quarter of the year, we are excited to expand our business on the digital platform as a means of connecting with our beloved customers and hopefully future customers too. Mission Statement: Return On Investment (ROI) is essential to consider in every form of development you make into your business. With that being said, the ROI of apiculture is a topic of high interest to local beekeepers, as well as those involved in the agricultural sector. Beekeeping is often seen as a pastime rather than a source of income. Yet, it is also important to consider how we can leverage this under-appreciated business into one that attracts partnerships, with a shared objective of providing high-quality honey as a priority. With our passion and love for beekeeping we can turn it into a source of income, as there are also many benefits of doing this, for both bees and humans. Vision Statement: Raising Awareness: “Killer bee” is the nickname African or “Africanized” bees have earned. African bees are hybrid species of the Western honey bees. However, as the name implies, they are unfortunately portrayed as hazardous stinging bugs. Their aggression is often a result of how they are approached. As a knowledgeable beekeeper, you must understand how to approach them, how to enter their hives, and really even how to present yourself. We have successfully completed extractions of wild honeybees that have given us two Carinolan Queen’s! This is a species of the honeybee that originated from areas as far as Slovenia, yet we have these two colonies here in Uganda, a country in Africa with a predominantly western honey bee species. This is extremely important in regards to future sustainability & awareness. At Nahl Apiculture, we strongly believe and have faith in teaching the misinformed masses of people that yes, bees are dangerous! However, with the right approach & care, it does not matter if the bee colony originated from the Northern, Eastern, Southern or Western side of the globe, they are manageable. The quality of the honey is reflected in the way it is harvested. The more people are aware of this, the more likely that the apiculture businesses that do not harvest honey correctly no longer dominate the global market. Why Choose Nahl Apiculture? It’s simple: we harvest in an ethical and clean way! Our bees are being treated the same we treat our children: with protection and full care. Nahl Apiculture stands out from other apiculture businesses in that we do not remove the frames and suffocate them with smoke. Why? Because it agitates the bees and harms the taste quality of the honey! This brings us to the question: so why do beekeepers use smoke if it is harmful to the bees? The fuel used as smoker material is also crucial to a calm response from the bees. If a beekeeper just picks up any leaves or twigs that produce an unpleasant smell and smoke, the bees will definitely get agitated. We use substances such as dried banana tree leaves & cow dung, these give the effects of a thick & cool smoke. We then top it up with some fresh lemon grass that lowers the temperature of the smoke and also has a fragrance that mimics the queen bee’s pheromones. At Nahl Apiculture we like to say; “If the smoke is too much for you, then it’s too much for the bees”. Apart from smoking, we have discovered a significantly higher composure from the bees using a spray bottle technique. This involves mixing a solution of honey & water into a spray bottle and gently dousing the bees with it. The reaction we see is an immediate response from the bees where they shift their focus from the beekeeper to each other. The honey bees are not known for wasting resources in the hive, hence they take advantage of the syrup mixture by licking it off of each other. This simple yet remarkable approach allows us as beekeepers to inspect the hive, harvest honeycomb & other products, and even capture wild swarms without the commotion caused from smoking. Why Should You Support Us? Supporting Nahl Apiculture is a great way for you to participate in helping the beekeeping community get better and advance our ethical and clean harvesting methods! Our number one motivation from the beginning was to stay true to our values as human beings and an eco-friendly company. We aim to continuously provide ethically-harvested products that are crafted with love and care. You can also do your part by avoiding buying honey that is not 100% genuinely natural or harvested unethically. How can you ensure it’s ethical? Or at least ‘more’ ethical than commercial honey? One way is to buy honey from a small, local farm (like us!) — ideally by visiting the farm yourself. This way, you can see everything first and and ask questions about their practices. If visiting the farm isn’t possible, you might try your local farmer’s market. While you won’t be able to see their practices for yourself, you can still ask questions and engage in a thoughtful conversation with the farmer. If local honey is not an option, you can always jump online and buy honey that is labelled as raw, unfiltered, organic, or biodynamic. Again, while these characteristics are no guarantee of ethical beekeeping, their related farming practices are likely to be more sustainable, which is inherently better for the bees. They are also more likely to follow more balanced beekeeping methods. Overall, ethical honey would come from beekeepers that are more concerned about the health and welfare of the bees than for maximizing their honey output. This is a big ask for anyone trying to make a living as a beekeeper, but these folks do exist. We also aim to provide an educational experience for our community. For example, our current goal is to teach people how to appreciate bees more and how to deal with them when you spot them out and about! Do not swat it, but rather take a moment to appreciate it. We have to remember bees are not monsters nor are they dangerous or hurtful, and it is our reaction to them that sets their motives. Usually when a bee attacks, it is out of a survival tactic. The best way to deal with a bee colony when you spot it is not by spraying it as seen on many social media platforms (Youtube and Tiktok), you can simply call your local beekeeper to help. Take the time to learn that the bees do not only make honey. Keep in mind, when grocery shopping that these bees pollinated the fruits and vegetables that you buy. We truly care. With ethical harvesting as a priority, we ensure that the honey remains pure and the bees remain happy. Stay tuned for our upcoming website release where we will go more into the behind-the-scenes of our harvesting process!