Stan

Just thought I would give you a bit of a heads up.  Beekeeping in the 
Philippines is not quite as bad as it may "appear" on the surface.  It will 
depend on what area(s) you travel to.  Several hundred Philippinos have, are 
or about to begin work in western Canada.  Lesser numbers work in New 
Zealand & Australia.  This began over twenty years ago with a project 
started there by Fairview College from Alberta.  At least one 
college/technical institution still teaches western beekeeping with most 
students hoping for employment overseas.  They go the whole gambit right 
through queen rearing and their graduates are very good. What they lack when 
they come here of course is an appreciation of scale.  They are no longer 
working with 1 or 200, but 1000s.

>with only about 5000 hives in the whole country).

Well..........
I would quess the real number is at least 10 Xs that.  Probably a much more. 
(The one caviate to this, is that varroa has started to hit them hard in 
some areas.)  Hives are TAXED.  If you have a few, you try to keep they 
hidden or least known only to the local authorities.  If you have 50, you 
report 5.  If you have 100 you still only report 5.

>The very few sources of wax foundation sheets in
>the country sell them for about a dollar US each.

Again, depending on what area of the country you 're in, you should be able 
to source them quite a bit cheaper than that. Availability of raw wax & cost 
will depend on who are and for whom your handlers work. Remember the only 
way that someone would have "a lot" of wax is if they had a "number" of 
hives so any transaction will need to occur below the radar.
A couple sets of rollers have gone home over the years, but the moulds sound 
like a good idea should you get dumped on one of the outter islands.

Take plenty of film or file space with you.  When our staff return each year 
with pictures of home & family, my wife & I are always struck by the beauty 
of the their part (mountains) of the country.  The few guys from here that 
have gone over, have really enjoyed it. The fact that most Philippinos speak 
english, makes things go fairly smoothly.

Hope you have a wonderful trip.

David Tharle
T'N'T Apiaries
Ardmore, AB

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