Allen, as I've posted before, I kept bees for the 9 years I spent in
Africa, and I e-mailed the man in the Gambia with and offer of advice. As
far as equipment, South Africa has a very well developed apicultural
manufactoring industry, and with the South African Rand at an all time low,
this would be a good source of equipment. A good scut would be better than
Italians in Africa, especially in an evironment like the Gambia, provided
that they were pure bred.