Moroccan agricultural engineer uses $15,000 Ford grant to help save beehives

Arab News

Agricultural engineer Ait Hamou Abderrahmane seeks to save the traditional beehives of Morocco by developing and managing them with innovative organic production methods, thanks to a $15,000 Ford Motor Company conservation and environmental grant.
Having been drawn to the alarming environmental phenomenon of declining bee numbers, Abderrahmane’s cause will help convert the country’s apiaries from traditional, seemingly random, production to an innovative organic model, which can potentially increase bee numbers in the region.
Abderrahmane’s innovative, intelligently-designed apiaries have been created with the well-being of bees in mind.
Keeping the black and gold creatures happy and strong is of great importance, and to do this, Abderrahmane required ideal housing conditions respecting the natural instinct of bees; reduced disturbance during apiary inspections; the ability to allow bees access to numerous and varied honey plants, as well as fresh clean water; and a solid management of the apiaries.
Once thought too cold in winter and too hot in summer, terracotta beehives — where cactus mucilage is used to increase the rigidity — are frequently identified on archaeological sites, though created via an art form not as widely practiced as it once was. The locally-sourced sustainable material do, in fact, offer great thermal insulation against the climate, while being easy to transport in the case of transhumance. Inevitably, the solid nature of ceramics makes it difficult to inspect the inner workings of a hive, meaning, innovation is needed to continue; which it did for Abderrahmane and his team with an endoscopic camera that operated with the least amount of disturbance to the bees in the hive.
Abderrahmane’s innovative apiaries are focused on one region in Morocco, where it is hoped this non-intrusive bee-keeping project will save the yellow honeybee species (Apis Sahariensis), which is currently threatened with extinction.
“With the money received from Ford Motor Company’s conservation and environmental grants, we were able to expedite the production of many more of our organic hives,” said Abderrahmane.
“Converting the country’s traditional, seemingly random-production apiaries into an innovative organic working model greatly increases the chances of survival for the local honeybees.”