Bees play an important role in the ecosystem, especially in the realm of agricultural production. A third of the world?s food production depends on bees and in essence, their effective pollination not only increases the amount of agricultural production, but also improves quality and enhances plants? resistance to pests. Unfortunately, recent studies suggest that many bee colonies are collapsing around the world. To this end, several countries have been promoting beekeeping as a means to help alleviate the problem.

Bee keeping in Seychelles is not considered as an agricultural activity under the Seychelles Agricultural Act. Consequently, there have been minimal efforts as a country to promote beekeeping as a source of income for the local farmers. As such, beekeeping is carried out on a relatively small scale as a hobby, with local beekeepers having one or two hives behind their houses. Local honey production is very low and the number of hives even more so. There are currently no clear guidelines or policies with regards to the development of this sector. Additionally, there is a clear lack of equipment and ?knowhow? among the Seychelles beekeeping community. At this juncture, despite the absence of Varroa mites and other deadly bee pathogens in the country, there is an urgent need to address their importance in our ecosystem. The capacity and competence of the apiarist community need to be significantly enhanced and there is also a need increase the level of education and awareness of public at large, on the importance of bees and the need for their protection and population increase. With pressing climatic changes, coupled with other adverse human impacts such as pesticides use, there are serious concerns that the collapse of bee colonies around the world will worsen. Therefore this project seeks to address the pertinent issues faced by the apiarist community in the country, with the aim of increasing local honey production and raising awareness on role of bees in the world of agro- ecology.