The National President, Federation of Bee keepers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Bidemi Ojeleye, has said that Nigeria is working towards being listed among the European Union (EU) Bee exporting countries. He made this disclosure while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Dr. Bidemi Ojeleye, who is also the Director, Centre for Bee Research and Development, Ibadan, said that Nigeria will start the exportation of bees to other countries from 2018. He said that a European Union team visited Nigeria for training and guidelines on the residue monitoring plans for bee export on Friday.
“For a trade in bees within the European Union, the general conditions that apply to ‘other’ live animals apply as the conditions are laid down in the EU Council Directive. ’’ said Dr. Bidemi Ojeleye.
He further added that Nigeria’s honey is one of the best in the world and that the Federal Government has made bee keeping equipment available to interested youths at subsidized rates to increase its production among young people.
Bees are essential in agriculture as farmers often have bee hives transported and then placed on their farm to provide pollination for their crops and thus increase farm produce. Some Nigerians are even getting involved in the production of cosmetics using bee products.
“Bee products are used as raw materials for production of medicine, cosmetics and lost wax casting.
“Beekeeping generates income without destroying the habitat, while bees do not compete with any other livestock for food,’’ said Dr. Bidemi Ojeleye.
Nigeria’s listing among the EU bee exporting countries will increase the growth of agriculture in Nigeria. It will attract more investments into the sector and increase beekeeping participation in Nigeria.
Also, it will create new opportunities to sustain the bee sector’s contributions to agricultural development and create more jobs for Nigerians.
