DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXTRACTOR TO IMPROVE THE PROCESSING OF QUALITY HONEY HARVESTED FROM INDIGENOUS HIVES AND NATURAL COLONIES

Abstract

In Kenya, the estimated potential of honey production annually is 100,000 metric tonnes. This potential is not met due to highly productive areas remaining unexploited. Marigat in Baringo County is among the ASAL areas in Kenya where most residents engage in honey production as the major source of income. Apicultural activities thrive in the area due to abundance of natural bee flora, favourable climatic conditions and vegetation cover. Honey producers in the area keep their bees in the indigenous hives and natural colonies. Traditional methods are mainly used to harvest and process honey in the area. This is because, few/no studies have been done in the area to determine the important physical properties of honey significant in; characterizing honey from different sites of Marigat, development and validation of an extractor to improve the processing of quality honey harvested from indigenous hives and natural colonies. Twelve (12) samples of honey from four (4) sites of Marigat; Maoi centre, Lopoi junction, Marigat town and Koriema centre, were analysed to determine the moisture content, pH, relative density and total water-insoluble solids content of honey. The mean parameter values of these properties were 18.05 %, 3.9, 1.41 g/ml, and 0.22 % m/m, respectively. Their range values were 17.1 to 19.6 %, 3.3 to 4.2, 1.4045 to 1.4343 g/ml, and 0.07 to 0.61 % m/m, respectively. The critical F-values obtained from statistical tables of all quality parameters of honey were greater than the observed F-values. This shows that, there were no significant differences on the quality of honey analysed for the four (4) sites. Further, sixteen (16) samples of honeycombs were measured and the largest possible values were utilized in determining the size of honeycomb net buckets as well as that of the extractor. The extractor was also designed based on some physical properties of honey. For instance, no water bath was included in the design to minimize fermentation that would occur due to presence of moisture in honey. The mean pH value of honey from four (4) sites of Marigat was found to be acidic, hence, the materials chosen for fabrication of the extractor were based on this quality parameter. Stainless-steel grade 304 materials were chosen for fabrication due to their ability to resist corrosion. The mean total water-insoluble solids content value of honey guided in the selection of suitable screen sizes for filtering any impurities that would be present in honey. The filtering mesh and a strainer with 1.0 mm and 0.5 mm hole sizes were selected to sieve any impurities present. Moreover, performance evaluation of the machine was carried out based on the relative density of honey and mass of honeycombs. The mean value of relative density was utilized in the determination of mass flow rate of honey as well as efficiency of the machine. The mass flow rate of honey was found to be 5.99 × 10−3 𝑘𝑔/𝑠, which was equivalent to 14.376 𝑘𝑔/𝑑𝑎𝑦. Five (5) test runs were done within a period of eight (8) minutes each without breaking the honeycombs. The amount of power required by humans to operate the extractor for a period of 5 years was equivalent to 6.48 × 10−5 W. Efficiency of the extractor was found to be 99.83 %. From this study, the physical properties of Marigat honey were successfully used to characterize, develop and evaluate the performance of an improved honey extractor which can also be used to process honey in any other ASAL area in Kenya.