Day of the Killer Bees

Today is a day I'll not forget in a long while. This job really brings with it some serious adventures.

The morning started calmly with a fresh fruit breakfast and cup of strong Zambian coffee. The we headed back to Kasisi to meet up with Austain our guide. He took us off through the countryside on dirt roads to meet three of the organic projects which Kasisi has helped with.

At the first of the farms we came across a lady working in the fields with her young children just playing near to where she worked. She was preparing some land for planting. The youngest child can't have been more than 2 or 3 years old and they happily played while their mother worked in this pesticide free friendly environment.



In the next patch was a plot of sugar snap peas just starting to flower. All of these fields are drip irrigated which is pretty advanced for the area. Just beyond that was a plot of organic cotton, still unpicked as the price the farmer can get is so bad it's not worth the effort of piccking it. 1Kg of cotton fetches around 25Cents. 1Kg of cotton can also make 2 tshirts which will sell in the west for around $50 or more. Somewhere someone is taking a huge profit and not passing it back to these very poor farmers. I was quite shocked by that statistic.





This farm is known as Kumena Organic Farm. It was a lovely place in a beautiful setting close to a lake.

At the next farm the drama began.



We were briefly introduced to the farmer (his name was Charles Zulu - a fitting name for an African Farmer I thought) and his wife (who is a local nurse and was just heading off to the clinic). At this little farm the farmer is clearly someone who tries many things. There were bits of half dismantled machinery all over the place and many ideas in progress. He grows Ground Nuts (peanuts) in virgin land that he is starting to cultivate as it improves the soil. This he is able to turn into some of the most delicious peanut butter I have ever tasted.

He also keeps bees. He started to show us around his farm, and first took us to a shed where he described a huge swarm of wild bees inside. He asked us to have a look so in we stepped and managed to photograph the massive swarm which was attached to one end of the shed.



The bees didn't like all the flash photography and turned on us! Out we ran chased by several thousand very angry bees. Nearby was a 10ft by 4ft shed and we ran for cover only picking up a few stings along the way. While we waited for the bees to calm down we could hear the buzz of thousands of bees outside which then turned on the animals, killing some of the chickens. The noise from the goats and donkeys was awful as they were stung and ran off.



Meanwhile inside the dark shed we wondered what to do. We had no protection. After 30 mins or so the farmer decided he had to go and protect his animals and family and check they were ok. He braved the bees running to his house and leaving us in the shed. By now some of the bees had started to find their way in. So we lit a small fire on the ground made from ground nut shells. This produced lots of choking smoke and did the trick. Nearly killing us in the process! The bees were held at bay. Meanwhile the farmer had set several tyres alight around the shed and surrounding area to try and get rid of the swarm.





He came back with mosquito nets which we wrapped around ourselves one at a time and ran for the nearest car. By the time it was my turn there were 5 of us in a sealed car in the African sunshine. It was very hot! The last one joined us and I took the photo below of him running through the smoke to join us. That was a scary hour or so. The driver of the car said the bees had just come for him and he'd jumped in as they banged against the windshield. What an amazing sight. We were safe.

After about 15minutes the farmer came back and told us to drive down the road a bit where he would join us and continue the tour! We met a member of his family on the way and she told us this has happened 3 times before, but he refuses to stop keeping bees! He brought with him some of his Peanut butter which I bought from him for the equivalent of about 50p ($1). We all bought some... It was really very good. I would like to have tied some of his honey too, but we didn't get a chance to. The farmer was a lovely man, challenged by many things which would be easy to overcome back home. He grows bananas near to a natural spring, but they are far enough away that its very difficult to get water to them. He also had a pond where he was rearing fish, and Watermonitors got them.



I was glad we could buy some of his produce. These folks really have a hard life to make just enough to live on.

After all this we sat at the side of the road and ate our sandwiches which the hotel had prepared for us. It was good to relax and just enjoy the scenery.

Off we went to the next farm, run by a woman this time. Here she rears goats for milk, meat and dung. The dung is used in the composting process which is used to improve the soil. The lady also has a very clever donkey. She loads it up and sends it off on its own. It has learned where to go and the people at the other end send it back with the money. She also sends it to fetch food, attaching the money to the carrier. The shop loads it up and sends it back. Very clever!






By now it was 4pm and the day nearly over. We headed back to base stopping at a small town to buy some drinks.



Again everyone was very friendly asking us where we were from and welcoming us. It was great. It was also time to say "Goodbye" to Austen our guide for the past 2 days. I head back home tomorrow, while Simon, Silvere and Austen will be togther for the rest of the week here before driving to Malawi to look at more cotton projects. I am sure they have many more adventures ahead of them.