This course unit is designed to enhance the learners’ knowledge on the science and art of beekeeping with special focus on beekeeping in Kenya. We think that the content is appropriate for any beekeeper in Sub-sahara Africa. Beekeeping is a less capital intensive investment can combine with other land use options such as agriculture and conservation rather well. It is anticipated that by the end of this blog course, the learner will have the knowledge and skill to successfully start and run sustainably an improved/ modern beekeeping enterprise.

Bees and their products, especially honey has been very important throughout the history of mankind. Their benefits range from agricultural in pollination of farmlands to nutritional by providing honey to medicinal to economical, just to describe a few. Among the greatest advantage beekeeping has to other farming options is that it neither requires much capital nor space.

Summary of learning outcomes:

To achieve this unit the learner should be able to:

1. Describe the importance of beekeeping at household and national level
2. Describe the behaviour of bees
3. Demonstrate the ability and knowledge to establish and manage a modern apiary
4. Appreciate the economic and environmental potential of beekeeping

History and importance of beekeeping

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the foundation of beekeeping. It is among the most common and the most known insects in the world.

Definition of terms

Apiary

This is the place where bee colonies are kept. It is also called a bee yard

Beekeeping

This refers to the science and art of managing bees for honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, bee pollen, royal jelly or venom and provision of various by products and services.

Hive

It refers to a man made container which honey bee colony makes its home.

Colony

This refers to a community of bees.

History of beekeeping

In 1851, a man called Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth discovered the idea of bee space. Bee space refers to a space of 7 mm that must always remain between two frames or combs. It is this idea that is used in making hives in modern bee keeping.

The attempts to modernize beekeeping in Kenya began in around 1950s when colonial government set up honey collection centers in semi arid areas of Kenya. These centres mainly dealt with honey collection and not production. This made people to destroy hives to collect honey. Consequently, bees were either burnt out completely or swarmed to establish new colonies. These honey collecting centres collapsed shortly due to this and mismanagement.

After independence, a 10 year national beekeeping project (1971-1981) was established. Through the project, The Kenya Top Bar Hive and other equipment were developed. A beekeeping section was established within the Ministry of Agriculture and a National Beekeeping Station established in Ngong Forest near Lenana High School. The station is a great resource centre for any person undertaking a beekeeping initiative in Kenya.

Potential of beekeeping in Kenya

Beekeeping in Kenya can be a viable business venture because:

• Over 80% of land in Kenya is suitable for beekeeping
• Kenya has the potential of producing 100,000 tonnes of honey and 10,000 tonnes of wax annually. Currently only 20% of this potential is tapped.
• With major lifestyle diseases, natural products like honey have bigger markets.
• Globally, there is concern on the reduction of honey bees

Major problems facing apiaculture in Kenya

Despite the great potential of beekeeping, major challenges also face beekeepers including:

• Defensive nature of the African honey bee
• Inadequate training for the extension staff and farmers
• Lack of effective pest control measures
• Poor marketing structures

The Government of Kenya is encouraging beekeeping to rural areas so as to provide additional income.

Economic importance of bees

Bees whether wild or kept in apiaries are useful. Some of the importance uses of bees include:

• Production of nutritious foods such as honey, bee pollen and royal jelly.
• Income generation from the sale of bee products
• Pollination of most food crops
• Contribution to biodiversity. Bees help sustain natural habitats through pollination and hence reproduction of plants in these habitats.
• A number of bee products are used in treatment of diseases.

*Can you think of other importance of bees?

Important Bee behaviour a beekeeper should know

Bee colony

A single honey-bee cannot live for very long on its own. There would be no point in doing so. A worker bee cannot reproduce; a queen bee cannot construct comb, collect food or even feed herself; and a drone bee is able to accomplish only one task and that is to mate. All three castes of honey-bee that live in a colony of bees – the queen, the worker and the drone – therefore can live only as part of a colony. When you first look into a hive and see thousands of bees apparently moving around at random and flying off the comb in all directions, the colony appears to be a place of chaos. But it isn’t. All this movement has a purpose. Let us first look at the different caste in a honey bee colony:

There is usually one queen bee in a colony, the drones can number to a few hundreds while the worker bees can be as many as 50,000 in a colony. All life in a hive is dictated by the queen.

The major function of the queen is to lay eggs and reproduce. This is important since the life expectancy of the worker bee is only around 1 month. The queen is also responsible for maintaining cohesion of the colony and is the matriarch. The drone function is to mate with the queen, since the queen only mates once in her lifetime, the drones virtually have no job in the colony!

The worker bee is a busy bee. The saying as busy as a bee should be specific to worker bees. She almost does everything in the bee hive. Scientists have discovered that the division of labour among the worker bee depends on her age. During her first days, the worker will be cleaning the cells, when 3-10 days old, she would take care of the queen, build wax and feed the young ones. At 15-20 days old, she would build wax, process nectar, guard the hive and do undertaking. When mature (21-35 days) the worker bee will forage for nectar, water and pollen. She is also responsible for the colony’s defence.

Special bee behaviour

There are bee behaviours that are of interest to a bee farmer and they include:

• Swarming
• Migration
• Supercedure
• Absconding
• Aggressiveness

You can research more on each of these behaviours. The National Farmers Information Service provides a detailed explanation of the honeybee behaviour and communication 

Communication methods in bees

Bees communicate by various stimuli such as physical stimuli (dances) and chemical stimuli (pheromones).

The honey bee dances

The dance language of honeybees was discovered by Karl von Frisch (1967). While observing bees, Karl noted that the scout bees would go to look for nectar source. The other worker bees would go to the flowers without the scout, it therefore meant that the worker bee must have received directions from the scout. The scout gave direction by use of dances and various dances have been recorded in hives including:

• Circular or round dance
• Waggle dance
• Sickle dance

Watch honeybee Waggle dance here

Pheromones

Pheromones are substances produced by one individual but will cause a particular response to members of the same species. Pheromones are produced from glands and include the following:

• Nasanov gland that produce pheromones to help worker bees find the hive
• Koschevnikov glands is an alarm pheromone. After stinging, the pheromone attract other bees to sting the same place.
• Mandibular gland of the queen produces pheromones that have a variety of functions including attracting drones during mating flights.

Beekeeping equipment

Now that you have learnt the history, importance and behaviour of bees, lets get down to the serious activity of beekeeping.

The hive

This is the structure in which bees live and raise their young ones. There are mainly three types of hives used in Kenya:

• Log hive (traditional hive)
• Kenya top bar hive
• Langstroth hive

Modern hives in beekeeping are Langstroth and Kenya top bar hive. The major advantage of a modern hive is that it has moveable frames and this makes inspection and general working with the bees easier.

Other beekeeping equipment

The smoker

This equipment is for providing smoke. Smoke calms the bees and makes working with the bees easier. Never go to a hive without a smoker! Make sure you have enough fuel to smoke, fuel can be old cloth rags, grass or wood shavings.

The catcher box

This is a small box used for trapping swarms which are later transferred to the hives.

Hive tool

This is a knifelike iron bar used for scrapping propolis from the top bars. It is also used for prying top bars apart.

Bee brush

This is made of soft sisal fibres and is used to sweep off the bees from the comb during honey harvesting.

Bee suit

This is a set of protective clothing put on while working with the bees in order to avoid stings. It consists of an overall covering the whole body, a veil for the head, a pair of gloves for the hands and a pair of gumboots for the feet.

Queen excluder

This is a framed wire mesh in a hive. It serves two functions:

• Restrict the queen to the brood area so that the workers can store clean honey in the comb cells
• It prevents the colony from swarming since the bees will not leave the honey without the queen.

Feeder box

It is used to feed the colony sugary syrup in seasons when there are fewer flowers.

Other beekeeping equipment include honey extractors, wax press and wax melter.

Apiary establishment and management

Factors to consider that are important to bees and beekeepers

Knowledge of the bee plants

An individual should know the flowering patterns of important bee plants. Other important information about bee plants include:

• Duration of the flowering plants.
• Know the period between budding and actual flowering
• Plant selected should be high nectar and pollen producers.

Forests, woodlands and even grasslands with flowering herbs and shrubs can be areas for beekeeping. Agricultural crops that have high nectar such as sunflower, coffee, legumes, bananas are also good for beekeepers.

Source of water

Bees require water for various uses such as:

• Cooling the hive
• Feeding larvae
• For their own use.

Apiary should be close to water. If water is not available, it can be supplied in containers with floating sticks for the bees to step to avoid drowning.

Human conflicts

Apiary location should be away from public places such as schools, highways and estates so that the bees do not disturb the people. Although honey is sweet, the bees also sting!

Fence/hedge

Trees and bushes can surround the apiary so that the bees fly high when leaving and returning the apiary thus reducing the risk of becoming a nuisance to the nearby activities. Fencing also helps to prevent animals that might disturb the bees.

Shelter

Colonies should be sheltered from the sun, wind and floods. Wind causes drifting of bees and poor communication.

Drainage

A well drained place is recommended to avoid absconding due to high humidity. Waterlogged soils cause the rotting of hives and posts.

Accessibility

The area must be accessible to motorists, beekeeper and human traffic.

Pests

The apiary must be free from areas with frequent attacks by pests e.g. honey badger, ants and man

Fire hazard

Avoid locations with frequent bush fires. It is wise to cut the grass short to minimize fire hazards.

Routine management of apiaries

Inspection

Honeybees colonies should be inspected at least once a month. The purpose is to know your bees well, know the colonies that are of good temperament, top honey producers, hardworking, etc. It is good  to know which colonies are best to multiply.

It is also important to check if the hives structures are stable, standing well and if there is nail coming out, replace it. Sometimes complete repair of the hive might be necessary.

Cleaning

Keep the apiary clean by slashing all the weeds and grass around the apiary. This puts away pests such as ants and beetles.

Greasing

Wires are greased to avoid other insects like ants to crawl inside the hive.

Bee behaviour

Check for abnormal bee behaviours such as bees clustering around the entrance. This might mean that bees lack space due to overpopulation or un-harvested honey. It could also mean that there is too much heat in the hive or bees want to swarm.

Record keeping

Record keeping is important to any bee farmer. The records to be kept can include the following:

• Date and time of last inspection
• Age of the queen
• Date of last harvest
• Amount of honey in stores
• Characteristic of the hive
• Swarming records
• Cash flows

Honey harvesting

• The ideal time of harvesting honey is in the evening (after 7.00 Pm)
• Do not harvest honey in rainy weather because honey may absorb water and become too watery
• Use a bee suit and a smoker always. Never use fire!.
• Harvest combs that are at least two thirds capped or sealed full of honey. Uncapped honey contain too much water and will start to ferment.
• Cut away the comb leaving around 1cm for bees to build combs
• Do not harvest the brood so that the bees continue to produce honey and not to swarm.
• Observe general hygiene while handling honey. Remember honey is food!
• Do not store honey in metal containers

Here is a video about essential skills needed in the nursery

Honeybee products

Bees produce various products for various uses. The products include honey, propolis and bee pollen which are plant products modified/changed by bees. Beeswax, royal jelly and bee venom are made by bees themselves.

1. Honey: honey is used for various purposes in different cultures. This includes use as food, food additive or medicine. Never boil honey as this destroys its flavor and medicinal characteristics. While handling honey, please remember it is food and should be handled in the cleanest way possible.

2. Propolis: this is a sticky black or brown substance that is used by bees in sealing holes in the hive, embalming/ covering dead hive invaders that cannot be removed or to repair combs. Hundreds of chemical compounds are found in propolis and which can be used in manufacture of medicine e.g. for ulcer healing, anti-viral, anti-histamine, anti-inflammatory etc.

3. Bee venom: the purpose of venom is to defend bees from its predators. The venom is transmitted through stinging. The bee dies after stinging. Bee venom has over 60 components which can be used medicinally in treating rheumatic disorders such as gout, arthritis and is even investigated in treating cancer. Some people claim that it is also a good for people suffering from HIV and AIDS.

4. Royal Jelly: this is a white creamy substance produced from mandibular glands of worker bees and is used to feed developing and mature queen bees. It is used to make cosmetic and skin care products. It can also be used as specialized health food.
5. Beeswax: beeswax is the primary material used for making combs. The combs are used for rearing brood and storing honey and pollen. Beeswax is produced from wax glands in bees. Man uses beeswax for various purposes including making polish, capsule coating and candles.

6. Bee pollen: it refers to pollen of plants found in hives. The pollen is usually from variety of plants therefore the pollen will vary from hive to hive. Bee pollen is used by bees for food and the first three days of the life a bee, the diet is usually pollen after which they eat honey. The diet of the queen is however royal jelly.

Importance of Honeybee in Modern Agriculture

Majority of agricultural crops are dependent on insect activity for their pollination. The bees are efficient pollinators because they are active all year round, have long tongue, have body hair coverage, have large colony population and they frequently visit crops. However, monoculture, use of insecticides, use of greenhouses may make the bees or other insects less effective in pollination. 

Beekeeping as business

Many financial benefits can arise from keeping bees. These range from selling products such as honey to selling services such as pollination by hiring out bees!

In starting a beekeeping business, one should first list all the equipment necessary for honey production. If finances are limiting, as is often the case, one can start the beekeeping with basic equipment such as hives and hive tools and might either acquire slowly the rest equipment or hire them if need arises. Things like protective clothing and honey extractors can be hired.

Marketing honey

Good quality honey can fetch good prices. Therefore one should ensure his/her honey is clean and of highest grade. Honey can be sold as crude honey, refined honey, comb honey or chunk honey.

Storing and packing honey

1. Honey should be stored in clean dry sealed containers
2. Pack honey in plastic or glass jars
3. The containers should be preferably see-through so that customers can see the product
4. Metal containers are not good for storing honey because honey is acidic and may eat through the containers
5. You should not store honey in other containers that have held anything other than food products before e.g. motor oil or paraffin containers.

Planting Out Tree Seedlings in the Field

After all the hard work in the nursery, the next step is to plant out tree seedlings in the field. Each year, many people plant out tree seedlings in different places around the country; however, only a few trees survive. Although harsh environment such as drought, poor soil, wildlife, grazing animals and so forth account for the low survival, the major cause of the low survival is poor knowledge and techniques to control the planted out seedlings from the harsh environment. Healthy seedlings can be available at the nursery. However, if the seedlings are not planted out properly, the trees will never grow well. If you expect faster growth and survival rates, proper planting and tending of trees are of utmost importance.

TECHNIQUES TO PLANT OUT TREE SEEDLINGS 

The planting out techniques can be classified into five steps that include site preparation, seedling preparation, actual planting, tending activities, and management activities on the trees.

Site preparation

The site should be prepared well before planting out tree seedlings. The activities of site preparation include the following:

1. Clearing: if there are bushes or grasses around your planting site, clear them before in order not to disturb the digging process and also prevent the competition between seedlings to be planted with moisture and sunshine. Bushes and branches should be cut at the base. Remove and pile the branches and grasses in an orderly manner. The branches can be used to make a temporary fence for the planted out trees while grasses can be added as mulch to conserve moisture.
2. Digging: planting holes should be dug before the rainy season starts. The popular size for holes in tree planting is usually 2feet by 2 feet (60 by 60 cm). As a rule of the thumb, the planting hole should be big in size. The purpose of the planting hole is to soften the soil so that the roots of the trees can penetrate deep and the soil can catch and contain more moisture. Big holes will store more water and make it easier for healthy root development!
3. Refilling of holes: before planting a tree seedling, the holes have to be refilled with some soil. This is because the planting hole is usually way bigger than the size of the pot holding the tree seedling. It is advisable to refill the hole with quality topsoil and if possible one can include well-decomposed manure. It is not advisable to mix dry branches and grasses while refilling the planting hole because they might attract termites.

Seedling preparation before planting

1. Watering before transport: water the seedlings just before transporting them from the nursery to the planting site. This water will prevent the seedlings from drying up during transportation especially if the seedlings are to be transported over a long distance.
2. Transportation of the seedlings: seedlings are living things and very fragile so they must be handled carefully. Do not pile them up each other while transporting. Using boxes or bags is recommended especially when the planting site is far.
3. Provisional allocation site: the seedlings should be planted on the spot shortly after arriving at the site. In case it needs some time until planting, the seedlings must be kept in a shade and protected from the wind. Water them if necessary to keep them moist and vigorous.

Planting

Favourable weather should be targeted to plant out tree seedlings. Favourable weather means that rainfall should be available for at least the first three months. Tree seedlings can also be planted out in dry months as long as they are watered regularly.

The common planting process is:

1. Making a hole the size of the pot using a panga or a stick. Remember that one is supposed to initially make a big hole and refill it with soil
2. Hold the pot and harden the soil by your two hands
3. Remove the pot carefully so that the soil does not break loose
4. Planting the seedlings without removing the potting soil
5. Pushing the soil around the seedlings firmly by hand to avoid leaving any space between the soil and the roots. One can also step on the soil around the seedlings to make it firm.

Silvica recommends that you plant out trees in the afternoon (after 3 pm). You don’t want to expose the tree to hot sun on its very first day, dou you?

Tending to planted out trees

1. Slashing and weeding: if grasses and bushes grow around the planted out seedling, clear them to reduce the competition for light and nutrients. Be extra careful to avoid damaging the planted out tree. Grasses and other weeds seriously reduce the growth rate of trees.
2. Shading: in the first dry season, planted out trees can benefit from shading. However, shading planted out trees is impractical in most cases. If possible, plant out seedlings where they can get some shade from other mature trees. Care should be taken, however, not to plant the seedlings in complete shade; remember trees, as with all plants, need sunshine for photosynthesis.
3. Watering: watering is very necessary especially during the dry season. One can also use bottle watering, do you know what bottle watering is?

Instead of watering a tree seedling with little water daily, it is recommended that one soaks the planted out tree seedling with a lot of water once a week. This will encourage the development of strong roots and will make the seedling stronger.

4. Protection: you should make efforts in protecting your seedlings from wild and domestic animals, insects and harsh weather. Can you suggest methods that can be used in protecting seedlings?

Management activities on trees

Depending on the objectives of tree plant, one can undertake various management interventions on planted out trees such as:

1. Thinning: This is where one fell down some trees. The main purpose of thinning in a timber plantation is to increase the diameter measurements of the remaining trees.
2. Pruning: this is the removal of branches from trees. It is done to produce knot-free timber.
3. Coppicing: is a pruning technique where a tree or shrub is cut to near ground level. Eucalyptus species are known to coppice well.
4. Pollarding: is a pruning method where a tree or shrub is cut at a higher level from the ground. Acacia kirkii are known to pollard well.

The ultimate growing trees in the field is to attain high survival rates. Nursery operations are tedious and cost a significant amount of time and money. Ensure that you get your value for money by implementing correct planting out techniques.

Foresters would recommend alternatives to seeds in some situations. However, in many cases, seedlings are generally grown from seeds in a tree nursery. The two major alternatives to seeds in a nursery are vegetative propagation and the use of wildlings. The alternative to seeds propagation method is useful where it is difficult to find seeds or germination rates of seeds are low.

Need for alternatives to seeds

• Some seeds are hard to find
• Others are difficult to germinate
• The ready availability of alternatives that would otherwise go to waste e.g. wildlings
• Desire to produce superior products (e.g. fruits in grafting)

Methods of Vegetative Propagation

Plants can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction occurs where pollen and stamen combine to produce seeds. In contrast, asexual reproduction includes the human-assisted cloning of plants. It is also referred to as vegetative propagation. Some methods of vegetative propagation in plants include:

• Grafting: commonly used for fruit trees
• budding (includes T-budding and patch budding (e.g.in oranges),
• cuttings (depending on the species, cuttings can be taken from different parts of the stock plant such as stem, leaves, roots or buds),
• air-layering (In this method, roots are induced on the stem of a plant using soil media or sawdust)
• Division (e.g. pyrethrum),
• runners (e.g. strawberry),
• suckers (e.g. bananas and sugar cane),
• Corms (g. in flowers like gladiolus),
• crown (e.g. pineapples).

The method used depends on the type of plant being multiplied. A more detailed article on vegetative propagation for forestry can be accessed here http://www.environmentalpollution.in/forestry/vegetative-propagation/vegetative-propagation-of-forest-trees-forestry/4766 and here https://agritrop.cirad.fr/582175/1/Pages%20425-440%20de%20vegetative-propagation-of-forest-trees-3.pdf

Wildlings

A wildling refers to a young seedling that is growing naturally in the wild. It is possible for a person to collect a seedling wildling and transfer it to a nursery for care. The use of wildling is common in establishing indigenous tree nurseries. Some indigenous tree species are notoriously difficult to grow from seeds. Yet, their seedlings are readily available in the wild. Nursery managers could collect such species.

Collection of wildlings:

Ideally, a wildling should be 15 centimeters or less. Additionally, you should only take seedlings that have no chance of surviving in the wild. These can include seedlings that are concentrated in one place and seedlings that are growing in the wrong place (e.g. the roof of your house). It is somehow counterproductive to pick seedlings that have a chance of growing into trees naturally.

The best time to collect them is after the rains. The preparation of planting area should be completed before the actual commencing of wildling collection. Wildlings should be temporarily placed in a bucket of water if they are collected from a far area.

The alternative to seeds give people who want to establish a nursery an additional option of stocking the nursery. The alternatives are especially good if you want quick gains in your nursery. It takes time for most indigenous tree species in Africa to grow. However, you can establish a tree nursery pretty fast by collecting wildlings.

Nursery management

Tree nursery records are key components for a good nursery management. We have learned of various practices in a tree nursery from various posts on nursery operations, such as soil collection and mixing, and seed collection and handling. Tools and materials are important in a nursery but the most important thing is nursery management. Management includes a variety of crucial matters like planning, looking for tools, labor arrangement, supervising work and recording activities. In any nursery, there should be a person responsible for running a nursery that is called a nursery foreman.

Planning for nursery operations

Selection of species: before starting a nursery, choose the species that you will grow in the nursery. The choice of species depends on the uses.

How big is the operation?

Availability of materials: check if all materials needed for the nursery are available. 

Make periodic plans for the nursery e.g. annual plans

Nursery foreman

Any nursery should have a foreman as part of its key staff. 

Characteristics of a nursery supervisor (foreman) include:

1. Writing: record keeping is among the most important things in a nursery and a nursery foreman should be able to write.
2. Training: the foreman should have had some training in nursery techniques and management.
3. Personality: he/she should be able to keep good relations with other people.
4. Honesty: should be honest and strict.
5. Availability of working time: should have some time to visit the nursery.

Nursery records

Nursery diary

It is the most important record

It records all activities of a nursery and should be filled in the morning after allocation of duties and in the evening before breaking for the next day. The figure below shows an example o a nursery diary.

The examples in this posts are of an actual tree nursery run by a luxurious tourist camp in Masai Mara, Kenya.

Nursery register

This is based on individual nursery bed basis

Nursery delivery record

This shows how seedlings are distributed

Visitor’s book

It is not essential but can be used to evaluate the nursery as visitors sign the book and comment on the nursery

Muster roll

It records daily attendance of the nursery workers. Not very important for small nurseries employing less than five individuals though the head of the nursery should keep records of the working of his/her employees

P- present A-Absent, O-off duty, L-Leave, S-sick

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has a simple guide of running a nursery for tree seedlings. You can check it out too. All in all, whether you are in charge of a small school nursery or a major tree planting project, tree nursery records should never be ignored. 

Now that you have planted your seeds in the nursery, let us focus on the nursery operations that are often needed when the seedling is growing. Many people assume that seedlings would only need watering at this point. They are right, to some extent. But, for most tree species in the tropics (especially in sub-Saharan Africa), other operations such as pricking out, root pruning, and hardening off would be necessary.

Pricking Out: one of the most traditional nursery operations in forestry 

Pricking out refers to a nursery operation where seedlings are transferred from the seedbed to the containers. The correct time to do pricking out is when the seedlings start to show true leaves. You should know that the first leaves from seed are the germination leaves. True leaves develop after the germination leaves.

The pricking out process involves:

• Before starting to prick out seedlings from the seedbed, you should ensure that your pots in the nursery bed are ready for seedlings.
• Watering the seedbed and containers with enough water before starting
• Prepare shade to reduce the exposure of the seedlings to direct sunlight.
• Fill a container with water.
• Use a dibble or pencil-sized stick to loosen the soil.
• Gently pull out the seedlings and place them in the container with water. The roots shouldn’t be exposed to the sun as they may dry out
• Do not take very many seedlings from the seedbed at once.

Now it is time to plant the seedlings to the nursery bed.

• Make a hole at the center of the planting pot using a stick or dibble.
• Cut the roots if they are too long for the pot.
• Avoid holding the stem as they are too feeble and tender.
• Ensure that the air pockets around the roots are closed by pushing the soil towards the seedling
• Water the pots well after completing the planting process. It is a good idea to arrange seedlings pricked out at the same time in the same nursery bed.

The use of seedbeds to establish seedlings is becoming an outdated nursery operation in forestry. Modern foresters recommend nursery operations that involve planting seeds directly to pots after pretreatment. However, seedbeds are still useful for some species and circumstances. For instance, species with very low germination rates are still best raised under a seedbed. Additionally, one can plant seeds in a seedbed in case he/she has the seeds, but the soil and or pots are not ready yet.

Pricking out is mainly done when an individual wants to transfer seedlings from a seedbed to the nursery bed or pots. But even for seedlings raised in pots, the pricking out process is necessary when you want to transfer seedlings from pots that have two or more seedlings to those that have none. 

Shading as a tree nursery operation 

The whole point of a tree nursery is protecting seedlings from extreme environmental influences until they can better withstand the conditions. Germinating and recently transplanted seedlings need some protection from the hot sun (especially in the tropics), heavy rain, and hard frost (in the temperate regions). Some form of shading can assist in protecting the seedlings from the environmental factors. Often, shading would help in reducing the losses through the leaves (transpiration), and it also reduces the temperatures of the plant and soil.

You should remember that plants require sunlight for good growth. As such, the shading needs to be regulated. Indeed, we do not recommend 100% shading at all! A poor, but unfortunately common, strategy in a nursery is to maintain the plants under shade for the entire nursery period. Plants with too much shade have the following characteristics:

• They are stunted or will grow slowly. Tall and skinny stems are among the common indicators of seedlings in too much shade.
• They are dark green or will be yellowish (which is more common)
• They would be inevitably susceptible to disease and insect attack.

Silvica recommends that 40-50% shading is sufficient for most species. Also, as the plant ages, the shading is reduced. The hardening-off section of this article describes the process in detail. Shade reduction should be a gradual process. The sudden removal of the shade may cause burning of the seedlings. You see, plants put under too much shade will adapt to the dark condition. Sudden exposure to sunlight makes it difficult for the chemical processes in the leaves to adapt fast. 

Nursery managers prefer natural shade for obvious reasons. They are cheap and mimic the natural conditions for the tree seedling. Regardless, nursery owners should ensure the trees do not provide too much shade. The shade trees should also allow sunlight to penetrate. An ideal shade tree would retain its leaves during the dry season and lose them during the rainy season. A tree that pollards well is also advantageous as it can be pollarded during the wet seasons. Shading using natural trees is a disadvantage for bare-rooted seedlings as the trees would directly compete for nutrients with the shade trees.

Construct a shade to protect the seedlings from direct sunlight for two to three weeks after pricking out.

You can use locally available materials such as grass or shade nets for shade construction.

Watering- an apparent nursery operation

Did you know that 90% of most plants is water? It goes without saying, the watering of seedlings is necessary nursery operation for the excellent growth of seedlings in a nursery. When grown in containers, nursery plants have only a limited volume of the substrate and do not have the ability of mature trees to search for water from below the soil surface. The amount of water seedlings require depends on:-

• Seedling age. More water is needed after germination when the seedling is young and at pricking out, but this requirement reduces as the seedling grows in age. The amount of water should reduce at the time when the seedling is nearing the planting stage. Like in shading, the reduction of water is part of hardening off (read about it in the later sections of the blog)
• Amount of sunlight. The sun causes the leaves to lose water through the transpiration process. As such, seedlings in sunny areas lose more water compared to the ones grown in shady areas. But, do not raise your seedlings in overly shaded areas to avoid water loss. Remember, sunlight is also a requirement for raising healthy seedlings. After all, plants need sunlight to make food in the process of photosynthesis.
• Soil type. A sandy soil loses water faster than soil with high clay content hence needs more frequent watering. The disadvantage of clay soil is that it becomes hard cracks when dry. Ensure that the soil used in the nursery is collected and mixed correctly. Watering the seedlings should be directed at the earth and not the leaves. A watering can or a hosepipe with a nozzle should be used to ensure uniform distribution water, and one should water the whole bed and not just the plants in the center of the bed. Also, you should ensure that water gets to the bottom of the container.

Too much water can damage the plants just as much as not enough water because of waterlogging, which makes it difficult for the roots to ‘breath.’

Ideally, watering should be done in the morning and evening when the sun is not intense. If this is not possible, then water once a day in the evening.

You can water the seedlings once or not all during rainy seasons. Just to reiterate, you should avoid under-watering and overwatering. Use an adequate amount of water, e.g., 20 liters for 1,000 seedlings.

Weeding

Weeds are a threat to healthy seedlings development as they compete with seedlings for nutrients, water, and light. Hence they must be controlled. As one of the nursery operations, tree nursery managers sometimes neglect to weed. They assume that weeds do not affect the growth of tree seedling. A good nursery operation ensures that seedlings are free from weeds.

Process

With your hands or a dibble, gently pull out unwanted growth (rouging) where weeds are observed.

Remove all the weeds around the beds with a jembe ( garden hoe).  Do not leave any rubbish around unless you want to turn it into compost.

Application of additional fertilizers (Nutrition)

Fertilizers or manure is applied when the seedlings show a sign of weakness. The most common fertilizers are NPK and DAP.

It’s important to note that you can also use manure from livestock. However, pest and diseases can also cause weakness in seedlings (not nutrients alone). The application of fertilizer is, however, not very common in most tree nursery operations because it is expensive. Also, most nurseries want to be eco-friendly, and inorganic fertilizers have several ecological issues. 

Root pruning tree seedlings

Root pruning is the tree nursery operation that involves cutting the roots of seedlings that have overgrown the containers or pots in the nursery bed. Many people I train have a concern about root pruning, but researchers have established that it is one of the beneficial nursery operations.

Why root prune? When seedlings have reached a certain size, and their roots become longer than the depth of the pots. The problem is that when the roots are left to grow, they will develop root systems in the nursery. You see, if a nursery foreman/manager allows this, it would be hard to move the seedlings when the time for planting outcome. Moreover, if the roots are cut when the seedling is old, the procedure is likely to result in a weakened plant. As such, periodic root pruning is recommended to avoid the problems associated with seedlings developing roots beyond their beds’ height. The period and interval of root pruning tree seedlings depend on different species and other conditions. Nevertheless, root pruning is done when seedlings’ roots have started to penetrate under the surface. 

Procedure

• Water the seedlings properly before root pruning.
• Cut the long roots underneath the container using a sharp knife, scissors or available cutting material.
• Water the seedlings well after root pruning. This watering helps the plant withstand moisture stress.
• Some nursery managers choose to place the seedlings on stones or polythene sheets to reduce the need for root pruning.
• Seedings on a raised bed can be pruned by using a sharp object underneath the bed after watering.

Hardening off

The process of hardening-off aims at acclimatizing tree seedlings to the harsh conditions of the field. The nursery operation is vital for the survival of tree seedling during planting out. While in the nursery, the seedlings are pampered as they are protected against sunlight, are watered twice a day, etc. The life in the field for a tree seedling is not as rosy. Often, seedlings have to encounter challenges ranging from excess sunlight to wildlife to livestock to human interference.

Although nursery managers cannot extensively prepare seedlings for the challenges in the field, they can gradually prepare the seedlings to the harsh conditions in the field using the hardening off nursery operations technique.

Hardening up process:

• The shade should be removed for some period before the seedling is planted out.
• Reduction in watering intensity (quantity) and frequency e.g., water twice a week and later once a week
• Before planting out, root pruning should be carried out frequently or re-arrangement of pots to allow more adoption to stress.
• Good preparation for out planting results in good field survival, therefore hardening off should be done 2 – 4 weeks before out planting time.

Postponing planting

Sometimes, it is not possible to plant out tree seedlings when they reach the right size (about 1.5 feet or 50 cm) because of various reasons. For the case of a nursery selling tree seedlings, the tree species may not have been bought. Some foresters recommend that the postponing planting nursery operations procedure is necessary. It involves cutting the tips of the plant to avoid overgrowing. However, cutting the tip for some species causes stunted growth or slow vertical development. Ideally, you should plan to avoid the situation where seedlings overgrow in your nursery.

Other nursery operations in tree nursery management include the ones that deal with establishing a nursery, soil collection and mixing, and seed collection and pretreatments. 

Seed Collection, Handling and storage

Like many crops, trees are grown from seed. As such, tree seed collection and handling are critical stages in tree growing and nursery establishment. The seeds must be collected from the right source and be of good quality. However, many people tend to collect seeds which are easy to collect and less attention is given to the quality of the seeds. A very wrong strategy!

What is a seed?

Seeds usually occur in fruits and they are capable of developing into another plant. There are different types of seeds including:

1. Follicle: A dry fruit that splits along one edge e.g Grevillea (Grevillea robusta is a common exotic tree in East Africa, most examples in this post will include cases and species in East Africa, particularly Kenya).
2. Pod: A dry fruit that splits along two edges e.g. Acacia species
3. Samara: A dry fruit with wings e.g. Combretum molle
4. Nut:g. podocarpus
5. Berry: A fleshy fruit with several seeds e.g. Warbugia ugandensis (East African greenheart)
6. Drupe: Fleshy fruit with one endocarp surrounding the seed e.g. Africa olives
7. Cone: Dry fruit with woody scales e.g. cypress species

Mother/ parent trees

Make all attempts to use good quality seeds for your nursery. Good quality seeds can be bought from certified suppliers or they can be collected. If you decide to collect the seeds, ensure that you identify good mother/parent trees. These are the trees which have good quality seeds and are used continuously to provide tree seeds. A mother tree for good seed collection has the following characteristics:

• Healthy, vigorous and well-formed
• Near the maturity stage
• Are good producers of the desired product
• Grows in areas surrounded by a healthy stand of the same species

Very young and very old trees should not be selected because they will not produce viable seeds

Before collecting seeds it is recommended that one does a flower and fruit survey. Basically, the survey means checking out the stages of the tree in terms of flower and fruit production.

The seeds can be collected from the trees in two ways:

• Collection on the ground: this is where one collects fallen seeds. One can use plastic sheets of paper to collect clean seeds.
• Collection from the crown:

After seed collection, handling process follows. The first handling activity is extracting the seeds. Pulpy fruits such as drupe and berries might require some soaking while dry fruits such as pods and follicle might require some drying and splitting.

After extracting seeds from fruits, it is time to store them, but not all seeds can store well as they have different behaviours. The different seed behaviour includes:

1. Recalcitrant seeds: these are the types of seeds that cannot store for a long time without losing viability e.g. East African Green Heart. Once they are collected and extracted, they should be planted immediately.
2. Orthodox seeds: these are seeds that can store for a very long time without losing their viability e.g. Acacia seeds can store for up to ten years
3. Intermediate seeds are between orthodox and recalcitrant

Pre-treatment of seeds

In natural conditions, seeds of many tree species take a long time to germinate or have very low germination percentage. Tree seeds are often in the dormant stage while they await the occurrence of favourable conditions. Pre-treatment of seeds is undertaken to speed up germination time and get good germination percentages. There are various pre-treatment methods including soaking, nicking, and cracking.

Soaking seed in hot water

Soak the seed in hot water until the seeds look swollen. This is used for seeds of trees such as Calliandra, most Acacias, and Albizia.

Procedure: It is a simple procedure that involves boiling water and placing seeds inside the water. The seeds remain until they are swollen (In most cases, the seeds will be soaked overnight).

Soaking seed in cold/cool water

This method is recommended for seeds that have soft seed coats such as Sesbania, Tephrosia, Dalbergia

species, Gmelina, Gliricidia, etc. Soaking in cold water usually take 24 hours, but some species could need 2 hours.

Procedure:

• Soak the seeds in cold water which is 2 times its volume
• Remove all floating seeds
• Sow the remaining seeds at the bottom in containers in the nursery or direct sow directly in the field after

Cracking the seed shell method

This method is used for tree species with a hard coat like Melia, Podo Species, Croton megalocarpus, etc. The idea for cracking is for water to penetrate through the hard coat for easier germination. Cracking is done using a sharp knife, a stone or a cracking machine

Nicking

This is by cutting the seed coat to enable moisture to pass through to the seed. It can be done by a razor blade, sandpaper, knife or fine pliers

The point of nicking is at the place furthest from where the seed was attached to the fruit/ pod. You should be careful that you may not damage the inside of the seed.

Seeds with hard seed coat such as Acacias can be pretreated in this way

No pretreatment

Seeds such as Croton megalocarpus, Neem, Cassia spp. and Kei apple can be sown directly into the container. Fine and light seeds such as Eucalyptus, Casuarina are sown in transplant beds and later pricked out into containers. It is important that fine seed is mixed with sand and uniformly broadcast on the seedbed to avoid overcrowding that can lead to damping off (a disease in the nursery).

Planting the seeds

After applying the correct pretreatment methods, it is time to sow the seeds. The seeds can be planted into a seedbed or directly into pots. Do you know what a seedbed is?

When sowing seeds, do not sow the seed too deep in the soil; the depth of holes should depend on the size of the seeds (usually 5 mm to 1 cm). Sowing too deep is likely to prolong seed germination period or the seeds may rot. As a rough guide, cover the seed with the soil equivalent to the size of the seed.  

Cover the pots or the seedbed after sowing with dry grass and if possible make a shade.

Ideally, the sown seeds should be watered twice daily (in the morning and evening). If this is not possible then water in the evening only since most of the water at this time is taken up by the plant because there is very little evaporation at night.

You need to plan the sowing time so that the seedlings could be ready for planting out at the right time.  is important the seeds are sown in time to enable the seedlings to attain the recommended size (at least 30-45 cm in height). This should be attained before the onset of rains (April or November for most parts in Kenya).

For the propagation of many tree species, there are specific procedures for seed collection, handling, storage, and pretreatment. The availability of the information is common on many forestry websites and local organizations. Make sure you understand the seed management of the species you choose to raise in your nursery.

Soil collection

Soil collection and mixing is vital in nursery operations. This is because the soil collected will be used by the seedling for nutrient and support for quite a long time.

It is very important to select an area with good soil. The existing vegetation of a place can assist in making a judgment if an area has good soil or not. For example, areas with a lot of vegetation indicate fertile soils but areas with less vegetation or vegetation with stunted growth might indicate poor quality soils.

The soil must be rich in nutrient. The soil is dug up to about 20 cm deep, or at the depth where there is good topsoil,  using hoes (Jembes in Swahili) after scraping off the vegetation.

It is best to collect soil three months before potting so that organic matter can decay and the seeds of weeds can germinate and can be removed easily. However, if time does not allow, one can use the collected soil immediately for potting.

After collecting the soil, ensure that it is free from roots, stones, and other substances. Ideally, this can be achieved by sieving the soil.

Soil mixing

Soil mixing is a regular activity in the nursery. The main purpose of soil mixing is to improve the nutrient and drainage of the soil.

To on improve the nutrient, the soil is often mixed with manure. The manure should be fermented NOT fresh!

Sand is added to the soil to improve drainage, especially to clayey soils. Sand is added to allow air and water to infiltrate.

Soil is usually mixed in ratios. The ratio to be used will depend on the type of soil collected. A common ratio for clayey soils in sub-Saharan Africa is 5:2:1 meaning five parts soil to two parts manure to one part sand. Soils with good drainage e.g. loam do not require sand, the ratio, in that case, could be 4:1, meaning four parts soil to one part manure.

It is good to ensure the soil is evenly mixed through thorough overturning.

Potting

The polythene tube 4” by 6” is commonly used as planting pots but 5” by 7” are also good especially for indigenous seedlings that stay in the nursery for a long time. Also locally available materials such as tins, tetra packs, milk packets boxes, etc. can also be used for potting. It is better to use open-bottomed than closed containers since this allows healthier root development and possible root pruning. If tins or other containers are being used, it is important that holes are made in the bottom to allow the movement of water.

The pots are then filled with the mixed and if possible sieved soil. When filling the pots with soil, ensure that the soil is not too compact.  After filling the pots with soil, they should be properly arranged in the nursery. The proper arrangement makes counting of seedlings or pots easier.

In dry areas, it is good to make sunken beds to conserve water

Following the correct procedures in soil collection and mixing in a tree nursery ensures that the substrates for supporting seedlings is of high quality. 

You may be wondering what it takes before starting a tree nursery. Don’t worry, we have you covered as we have outlined ways that ensures your nursery is ready for all the silvicultural operations. 

Tree nursery operations involve various activities such as seed sourcing, Seedbed preparation, Sowing seeds, Potting, Pricking Out, Shading, Watering, Weeding, root pruning, application of additional fertilizers or manure. They are basically the activities that take place during managing a tree nursery.

Establishing a tree nursery

A tree nursery is a place where tree seedlings are raised. Trees are raised in a nursery because:

1. A nursery increases survival chances of seedlings because they can be taken care of in the nursery-young trees are nurtured until mature enough to be moved to the field.
2. A nursery is also important for convenience reason, the seedlings can be planted at the desired time

Well, it is said by some that anything that has an advantage has some disadvantages. The disadvantages of having a tree nursery include:

1. It is expensive to start
2. It also requires a lot of labor.

Factors that influence location of a tree nursery

Where to site a nursery is an important issue to consider before starting because it influences the effort that will be required to maintain it, the way in which it will be managed, and the ease of access to users. Some of the factors to be considered in selecting the site for a nursery include the following:

• There should be a reliable supply of water, ideally being near a river or ponds, or where a water tank or a drum to store water is available
• The site should be accessible all year round so that customers are able to get seedlings easily, and so that nursery staff can manage plants and transport mature seedlings to planting sites and/or markets.
• The area should have a gentle topography; a very flat place will encourage waterlogging while a steep place will encourage soil erosion
• Good soils and other planting materials such as sand should be available easily
• The site should be protected from strong winds and from livestock and other animals.
• There should also be good security so that you do not lose your seedlings to thieves! Or even wildlife!

Factors that influence the size of a tree nursery

How big a nursery should depend on many different factors, of which the following are most important:

• The available space for establishing the nursery. The land available on farms may only be small in area, but more space may be available in public lands like schoolyards or church grounds
• Whether you will grow the seedlings in pots or in beds, and whether they will be raised from seed or from grafts, or from bare-rooted cuttings, etc. This will influence the amount of space each plant needs. Remember that in a nursery additional space is required for keeping collected soil, sand and manure, and for mixing these materials
• The numbers of seedlings to be raised for personal use and for sale. When considering the size of the market for seedlings, it is better to start by being conservative in estimating what your market will be
• The amount of water and other requirements that are available to maintain seedlings

Facilities and resources

When establishing a nursery, it is important to have somewhere to keep nursery tools safely and in good conditions. This does not have to be at the nursery itself, but could be in the house, school, church or other location. The basic tools needed for a nursery include hoes (jembes in Swahili), machetes (pangas in Swahili), shovels, empty tins with small holes in the bottom (to substitute for a watering can), and kitchen knives for root pruning. If resources allow, then proper watering cans, wheelbarrows, pruning knives, knife sharpeners, soil sieves, and shovels are also all useful. 

All in all, starting a tree nursery is a process that may require innovation. Do not postpone starting your nursery because you lack a few things. Get innovative and work with what you have. We surely need the trees!!

Every person who is a forestry student or enthusiast has come across the term silviculture. But, for some, defining silviculture has been challenging as it is confusing to separate it from forestry and silvics. We hope that this article will help in clearing that out.

Forestry is the study and management of forests. Good forestry programs make it possible for humans to get some economic value from forests without destroying the forests or trees. This way of using forests is referred to as sustainable forestry. In sustainable forestry, the effort is put to ensure that all the resources that are taken from the forest are replaced. Only old trees may be cut down allowing younger trees to grow and ensure continuity. Trees are also planted to replace the ones cut down.

Silviculture

Silviculture is the agriculture of trees, i.e., how to grow them, how to maximize growth and return, and how to control tree species compositions to meet landowner purpose for the trees.

The purpose can include anything from firewood, timber, paper, income, wildlife habitat, water quality, recreation, or any other values a forest is capable of providing. In other words, managing trees for timber is different from managing trees for firewood or conservation!

Most consistent definition in forestry textbooks is as follows:

Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, and quality of forest vegetation for the full range of forest resource objective

In simpler terms, to define silviculture, you need to understand that it involves manipulating a forest for specific human needs. However, foresters need to ensure that their management is ecologically sound, is within all the economic constraints and is acceptable by society. In a way, silviculture and sustainable forestry are similar to the concept of sustainable development. 

A more complex definition of silviculture includes the reference to the Latin word, Silvics. Silvics refer to the ‘life history, growth, behavior and ecology of a tree species’. Ergo, silviculture would imply the application of silvics to the management of a tree.

By now, you might be having an idea as to why we call ourselves Silvica.

Poor silvicultural decisions often arise when foresters fail to consider at least one of the three aspects of silvicultural decision making. Some examples of poor silvicultural decisions include:

• Litter raking was a common practice in forestry management in Europe until the early 20^th At this point, it was realized that litter raking was removing necessary nutrients in the soil. In this case, the ecological aspect was ignored.
• In dryland Kenya, a woody species, Prosopis julifola was introduced to increase the woodland cover. However, the foresters/silviculturists in the project failed to consider the societal and ecological impacts. The species dominated other indigenous species that had traditional value to the community.

A key point in the concept of defining silviculture is that forests could be managed for various goals including:

• Timber production: probably the most common application of silviculture
• Wildlife habitats: some species need forests for survival
• Protect water quality: Forests are known water towers
• Restore ecosystem function: For example, reafforestation in Mau forest, Kenya.
• Preserve natural ecosystems and wilderness: Common in national parks and reserves

Silvicultural systems are added to an individual stand to achieve a specific management objective. While it is possible to have more than one management objective on a stand, it would be impossible to optimize management for all. After all, some of the management objectives are inherently conflicting. Preservation conflicts with timber production. Landowners guide the forester in choosing the appropriate treatments

Our operational definition view silviculture as being synonymous with forestry. However, in the real sense of the word, silviculture is a subset of forestry.