In Tororo, Blathnaid Healy visits the Ocharo's farm where they still have not had a successful harvest of honey from their beekeeping.
Husband and wife Lydia and Tiberius Ocharo have experienced problems since they began keeping bees.
They have three hives on a plot of land where they live surrounded by the homes of Tiberius' father and his siblings' families. More than 20 people now live on a farm that once only supported between five and six when Tiberius was a child.
Tiberius said the crops he has on the farm produce enough for his family to eat, but there is no surplus to sell. Aside from the three beehives - he does some carpentry in nearby Tororo.
With her baby girl, currently sick, in her arms, Lydia said she is scared of the bees. She leaves the beekeeping work to her husband – but she is happy to have them there.
Like Tiberius, Lydia said she wants the beehives to become more productive and she would like to expand them in time.
Since the family received the hives, they have harvested them for honey three times, extracting in total between 5kg and 6kg, with each hive producing no more than 2kg.
Sitting on wooden stools at the Ocharo's farm, local beekeeping project worker Anne Asinde told Tiberius they should be harvesting 8kg per hive.
Tiberius said he thinks the bees themselves may be the problem. He wants to clear the hives of them and try to re-trap new ones that will work harder.
The three hives the couple have are very exposed on the farm, with very few trees or flowering plants nearby for the bees to feed on.
Honey production is directly linked to the amount of nectar and pollen-producing plants and trees available for bees to eat.
Anne told the couple to improve their yield they would need to plant more and possibly even supplement the bees' diet with some sugar.
'The Humble Bee' is brought to you in part by the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund
Click to return to the main page of the series
