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2025-05-01T07:45:01Z

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==Procedure==
 
'''Step 1: Site Selection and Location of apiary''' 
*Select an area that provides a wide variety of flowering plants which supports the foraging characteristics of bees. Flowering shrubs provide nectar and pollen for continuous supply of food for maintenance of the colonies. 
*Apiary sites should be chosen preferably in the centre of the bee pasture (foraging area) to allow access to all flowers within 3.5 - 4.0 kilometre radius. 
*Do not select sites where the bees can gain access to hazardous chemicals or where volatile chemicals harmful to bees are used or stored. These may result in a high bee mortality rate and poor productivity of the colonies. 
*Areas emanating high odours, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be avoided as honey in the hives may absorb these odours. 
*Steep slopes should be avoided. 
'''Step 2: Establish the apiary''' 
An apiary must be established from any one or a combination of the following: 
*Complete Colonies: Hives consisting of 10 or more frames/combs of bees to include a queen bee. 
*Nucleus/Artificial Swarm: 4-5 frames/combs of bees with eggs and open brood which is encouraged to make its own queen bee or to which a queen is later added. 
*Packaged Bees: 0.5 kg of worker bees with a mated queen bee. 
*Swarms: Bees absconding or swarming from existing nest. 
*Feral Colonies: Bees collected in the wild. 
'''Step 3: Registration of apiary''' 
*All apiaries must be registered by the 31st of January of each year with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 
*You should fill in a registration form to register the apiary. The form can be downloaded from the following link [http://www.moa.gov.jm/Beekeeping/files/Apiary%20Registration%20form_2015.pdf Application for apiary registration] 
*Submit the completed to the nearest Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries offices for approval or mail the registration form together with a letter requesting registration to the following address. 
:::Chief Apiculture Officer, 
:::Apiculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, 
:::Bodles Research Station, 
:::Old Harbour P.O., St. Catherine 
'''Step 4: Sourcing Beekeeping equipment and bees colonies''' 
*The Apiculture Extension Specialist operating from the Research and Development Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries must be contacted for assistance when making a purchase of bees. 
*This is to ensure that bees are obtained from healthy sources and the equipment is of good quality. 
*In sourcing stock for the establishment of a new apiary, it is imperative that careful selection be undertaken in order to ensure genetic qualities of any particular line. Not all honeybees possess the same level of genetic characteristic and poor quality queens produce poor quality off springs. 
'''Step 5: Movement and management of Bees''' 
*All beekeepers and managers of honeybees and their products must follow the guidelines of importation, transportation and their management as stipulated by the legal framework and guidelines set out by the Chief Plant Protection Officer (Apiculture Unit). 
*Permission to transport bees must first be had and obtained in writing from the chief plant protection officer – Apiculture Unit. 
*The bee-keeper and his attendants must be able to identify pests/disease symptoms in the apiary/beehive. 
*On observation of any unusual or unrecognisable symptoms the Apiculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture must be contacted. 
*Bee-keepers/attendants must be trained in pesticides application in the beehive. 
*Apply integrated pest management system to your operations; contact your extension officer. 
*Bee-keepers/attendants should practise good hygiene since strong odours (good/bad) irritate bees. 
*Protective clothing should be clean when working in the apiary. 
*Ideally, the bee-keeper should have food handlers’ permit for extracting honey. 

==Required Documents==
 
*Completed application for apiary registration 
*Valid identification document 
*Letter requesting registration 

==Office Locations & Contacts==
 
'''The Apiculture Unit'''

Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries

Research and Development Division

Bodles

Old Harbour, St Catherine

Phone: 983-2266-7 / 983 2842-3 / 983-2281

Fax: 983-2822

Email: ppu@moa.gov.jm / apiculturejamaica@gmail.com/ apiculture@moa.gov.jm:

Website: [http://www.micaf.gov.jm/ Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries]

'''Apiculture Extension Specialists by parish : ''':[http://www.moa.gov.jm/Beekeeping/apiculture_officers_by_parish.php Apiculture Extension Specialists by parish]

'''Hive bodies, frames, covers and bottom boards'''

Honey Comb Industries contact 984-4004

Richards Woodwork 566-6363

Links Incorporation 326 -2284

All Island Bee Farmer Association (AIBFA) -962-0477-9

'''Other equipment items'''

St Jago Farm Supplies 981-1510

Beekeepers World 866-6313

==Eligibility==
 
*Any farmer wishing to establish an apiary 

==Fees==
Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

==Validity==
 
*Registration document is valid for one year. 

==Documents to Use==
 
'''Application for apiary registration 2015''' : [http://www.moa.gov.jm/Beekeeping/files/Apiary%20Registration%20form_2015.pdf Application for apiary registration]

==Sample Documents==
Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

==Processing Time==
 
*It take two to four weeks for processing 

==Related Videos==
Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M".

==Instructions==
 
'''Registration, Movement and Management of Bees:''' 
All apiaries must be registered by the 31st of January of each year with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. In addition, all beekeepers and managers of honeybees and their products must follow the guidelines of importation, transportation and their management as stipulated by the legal framework and guidelines set out by the Chief Plant Protection Officer (Apiculture Unit) 
'''During transportation''' 
::i. Regular hive covers must be removed and replaced with meshed cover to allow ventilation. 
::ii. Hive entrances should be blocked preferably with a strip of mesh and securely fastened. 
::iii. All hive parts (hive bodies, covers and bottom boards) should be securely fastened to prevent separation and escape of bees while in transit. 
::iv. All honey should be removed from the supers to prevent breakage of combs, spilling of honey and to reduce heat stress. 
::v. The hives must be covered with a mesh screen to prevent any escaping bees leaving the vehicle. 
::vi. It is best to transport bees during the cooler time of the day (before sun up and after sun down). 
'''Pest and Disease''' 
::i. The bee-keeper and his attendants must be able to identify pests/disease symptoms in the apiary/beehive. 
::ii. On observation of any unusual or unrecognisable symptoms the Apiculture Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture must be contacted. 
::iii. Bee-keepers/attendants must be trained in pesticides application in the beehive. 
::iv. Apply integrated pest management system to your operations; contact your extension officer. 
::v. Pesticides application records must be kept stating date of application, type, brand method of application and pre-harvest interval. These will be useful for the future reference. 
::vi. Determine the type of pest present, as well as any immediate and potential damage, and then contact the relevant apiculture extension officer in case of uncertainty. 
::vii. All American Foul Brood diseased hives must be promptly destroyed by burning with fire after consultation with the extension personnel. 
'''Hygiene''' 
::i. Bee-keepers/attendants should practise good hygiene since strong odours (good/bad) irritate bees. 
::ii. Protective clothing should be clean when working in the apiary. 
::iii. Ideally, the bee-keeper should have food handlers’ permit for extracting honey. 
::iv. Jewellery should not be worn during the processing of honey. 
::v. Bee-keepers/attendants known to be suffering from any illnesses/broken skin should not work in honey-handling facilities. 
::vi. Dark/colourful clothing should not be worn when working in the apiary. 

==Required Information==
 
#Bee keepers name 
#Address 
#Parish 
#Email & telephone number 
#Location of apiaries 
#Number of colonies 

==Need for the Document==
 
*Farmer benefit from the extension services of the Apiculture Unit upon registration. 

==Information which might help==
 
#All apiaries must be registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Apiculture Unit, Bodles, Old Harbour upon establishment 
#This information must include the following 
#::a.Beekeeper’s Name 
#::b.Address and phone number 
#::c.Location of apiary and number of hives 
#For new beekeepers, success rate at splitting will be dependent on the initiative of the beekeeper. 
#Hive must be treated annually (June – August) against varroa mite infestation. 
#When mounting new hives in accordance with the above ensure that hive covers and bottom board are in place. 
#1.4 lb. of comb foundation is adequate to supply each additional hive body @ $1200/lb. 

==Other uses of the Document/Certificate==
 
*The document prevents farmers from facing penalties under the law for not registering. 

==External Links==
 
'''Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries''' : [http://www.moa.gov.jm/ Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries] 
'''Beekeeping and Honey Production''' : [http://www.moa.gov.jm/Beekeeping/ Beekeeping and Honey Production] 
'''Bee control act''' : [http://www.moa.gov.jm/Beekeeping/files/the%20bees%20control%20act.pdf Bee control act] 

==Others==
 
*Jamaica possesses a honeybee derived from three races of the Aphis mellifera spp. These races include the Italian honeybee (Aphis mellifera lingustica,) Caucasian honeybee (Aphis mellifera caucasica) and the German black bees (Aphis mellifera mellifera). 

*Physical features of these genetic lines are evident in any colony of honeybees in Jamaica. It is therefore difficult to find a colony which is pure, that is, of one specific race. 

'''Beekeeping has some distinct advantages such as:''' 
::i. It does not require large acreages to establish an apiary 
::ii. It is not labour intensive 
::iii. Other activities can run concurrently with moderate operations 
::iv. Most activities in the apiary are timely 
::v. The returns on investment can be significant (though heavily dependent on the level of management) 
::vi. Bees do not compete with man nor other animals for food 
::vii. That which is gathered and converted by the bees for the use of man could not otherwise be economically harnessed. 

[[Category:Jamaica]]

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