1.
MV Sign "Ministry of Agriculture"
0.05

2.
MV Students putting on protective clothing
0.08

3.
CU's Students putting on clothing & head gear (4 shots)
0.24

4.
MV Student preparing smoker
0.29

5.
MV & CU Student using smoker (2 shots)
0.40

6.
CU Students watching as hive is smoked
0.43

7.
CU Instructor removes comb from hive & holds it up
0.53

8.
CU Student looks on
0.54

9.
CU Comb removed from hive (bigger one)
1.04

10.
CU Bees running around instructors gloved hand
1.09

11.
MV Students looking into hive
1.15

12.
CU Comb removed from hive showing bees & honeycomb (4 shots)
1.42



Initials ESP/0031 ESP/0346



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A group of agricultural assistants at the Ngong Farm near Nairobi began an intensive study of bees and bee-keeping on Thursday (10 May).

The two-week course for the nine students will teach them the basics of the honey industry before they move out to various parts of the country to help bee farmers improve their productivity.

The students soon learned the value of protective clothing. The sting of the African Honey Bee can be far more injurious than the sting of bees in Asia or Europe. The help from the students will prove valuable to the farmers, who sell their produce for processing as refined honey, for use in a local beer called 'Njohi', and even as a medicinal for stomach complaints.

SYNOPSIS: At the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture's Ngong Farm on Thursday, students prepared for a two-week lesson in bee-keeping.

Ngong Farm is just outside Nairobi. It's used by students, training to become agricultural assistants. The protective clothing is an important feature. The string of the African honey-bee is far more deadly than that of bees in Asia or Europe.

Smoke is used to temporarily evict the bees from their hive. This lets the students remove the honey with little danger of being stung.

Although hollow trees are bees' natural nesting place, man-made hives don't slow their honey-making activities. It simply makes it easier for bee-keepers to get the honey.

The nutritious honey is stored by the bees in combs - flat pieces of wax in the form of a double series of hexagonal cells.

Honey is a traditional African food. In Kenya it is used to make 'njohi' - a local beer. It is also used as a medicine in the treatment of stomach complaints. Processed honey is popular and inexpensive. There are already three honey-processing plants in Kenya giving farmers a ready outlet for their honey. After the students finish their agricultural training, they will visit various parts of the country to help farmers improve their honey production.