Plenty of these initiatives going around, and it's nice to see it looks like a success. The one problem with ones like this one is, when the beekeeper wants to expand, or word spreads and more want to join in, without additional funding they cannot afford the hives - that's why, in the medium term it's better to encourage home built hives - African top bars being the usual choice (can't believe I'm saying this!!). For example:
When I was project manager out in Lesotho everyone wanted Langstroths as they were readily available over the border in SA and that's what had been gifted to them in the past by various charities who had just given them the hives and walked away. A full hive 'kit' consisting of floor, Brood, QX, two supers and roof (all ready creosoted) - they don't bother with crownboards out there plus a full suit of frames and foundation cost around 800 ZAR - about forty quid then, bargain eh? but when you consider that that is more than it costs to put a child through a year's secondary education and the majority of the population earn less than $1.00 a day it's not that attractive.
These projects have got to be sustainable to continue without additional propping up from outside and be able to expand.
What I saw was farmers seeing one successful subsidised enterprise and trying to follow suit, spending a load of money then losing interest as they couldn't fuel growth and make an income from it.
