Sarah during the site visit.

Universally, bees are dwindling because of the widespread use of pesticides, environmental degradation, climate change among several eco-system hazards.

For Uganda’s case, the agro-Ecological zones such as Lango sub-region have been greatly affected by pesticide use hence the reduction of honey production over the years. Daniel Odongo, the production manager at Wimrob bees company explains that the smells of chemicals used for spraying crops force bees to abscond whereas some die before they can abscond. https://www.independent.co.ug/continuous-spray-of-pesticides-affecting-honey-production-in-lango/

In a bid to alleviate these various threats to the honey bee species, the Adaptive Environmental Monitoring Network for East Africa (AdEMNEA) Project at Makerere University together with the College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB) have embarked on research advancement in two Agro-Ecological Zones; Eastern and Northern regions of Uganda.

Majugu Sarah, an entomologist and PhD student at CoVAB uses a multi-purpose approach to explore the impact of pesticide and land use utilization on the African honey bee in Uganda. She further revealed a series of processes involved in her scientific research such as; writing review papers and publications, data collection and field work, laboratory analysis, taxonomical and molecular analysis among others.

Sarah during Data Collection.

“Steady progress is key; I am looking forward to putting a final touch on two publications soon. Once achieved, that will be my moment of fulfilment and yet just an energizer to proceed to yet another level that will involve field data collections followed by sitting long hours in the Laboratory to analyse the collections with a taxonomist and molecular analyst,” Sarah emphatically remarked.

Data Collection and Field work study.

Dr. Deborah Amulen, an Entomologist and a Bee Specialist believes Sarah’s study is essential in understanding drivers to Ugandan bee population declines and developing solutions to improve and conserve our bees.

“We hope that she will develop a strategy for integration of honeybee pollination services to commercial crops of importance.” The Bee Specialist said.