ABEEA – African Beekeeping Academy

A Unique Center of Excellence in Beekeeping in Africa

In Rwanda, at the heart of the hills of East Africa, ABEEA trains a new generation of beekeepers, technicians, and entrepreneurs capable of developing a modern, high-performing form of beekeeping deeply adapted to the realities of today’s world.

ABEEA is a living center, built through hands-on experience and guided by a strong conviction: to develop world-class beekeeping with native African bees while respecting life, rural communities, and natural ecosystems.

Our academy operates through an immersive training system that includes residential facilities (32 places), enabling complete knowledge transfer: theory, practical work, school apiaries, breeding, selection, harvesting, processing, and the professional management of a modern beekeeping operation.

Our greatest strength lies in the field itself.
Today, ABEEA manages a stock of nearly 500 hives across Rwanda, including 140 hives distributed among 10 school apiaries dedicated to training, demonstration, and experimentation.
On an African scale, having such an educational and technical infrastructure is truly exceptional.

Our teaching is built on years of practical experience with measurable and reproducible results.
We have developed a unique approach centered on the bee as a colony-animal, integrating biology, behavior, ecology, thermoregulation, genetics, and the productive performance of African bee colonies.

Today, the professionalization of beekeeping is no longer an option.
Modern markets require increasingly high standards of quality, traceability, and compliance. Producing honey alone is no longer enough; beekeepers must also be able to document colony origins, production practices, harvesting conditions, sanitary standards, and the technical monitoring of apiaries.
ABEEA prepares beekeepers precisely for this new reality.

 

One of ABEEA’s major pillars is its work in the genetic selection of native African bees.
We select local lineages that are calm, productive, and perfectly adapted to local climatic conditions.
Each queen selected over four generations is integrated into an advanced QR-code traceability system that makes it possible to identify its lineage, origin, performance, and monitoring history.
This unique approach represents a major step forward in the professional development and valorization of local native bees.

Our work is also built around the ROBEEC Rwandan Hive, specifically developed for native bees and the environmental conditions of Rwanda.
Its cubic structure, made from local wood, promotes the thermal and biological balance of colonies, improves their stability, and enables remarkable performance levels with local bees, without relying on imported genetics.

At ABEEA, beekeeping goes far beyond simply producing honey.
Our practices are organically certified and integrated into a broader vision of environmental regeneration: biodiversity conservation, pollination, agroforestry, reduction of chemical inputs, and the preservation of natural ecosystems.
Our organization is developing a climate-positive impact model through programs for planting Grevillea robusta (20,000 planned in 2026) and a strategy aimed at achieving a positive carbon balance.

An Exceptional Setting for a Unique Training Experience:
• 34 boarding students
Each student benefits from personalized support and lives in full immersion within a structured rural beekeeping environment.
• High-level supervision

A Rooted and Innovative Approach to Beekeeping:
• Exclusive work with native African bees: Our training programs promote a beekeeping approach that respects local ecosystems, with a direct connection to biodiversity and ecological resilience.
• Rigorous queen selection, now reaching the 4th generation: The result of years of dedicated work, our selected lineages are more productive, gentler, and better adapted to their natural environment.
 

• Roch Domerego, an international expert and creator of the Rwandan hive, shares 40 years of experience in tropical beekeeping.
• Ève de Sadeleer, founder of ROBEEC Ltd, combines technical expertise with a teaching approach adapted to the African context.
• A team of 9 qualified Rwandan beekeeping technicians, led by a veterinarian, complements this expertise with strong field supervision and deeply rooted local knowledge.

• Two covered carpentry workshops
Comprehensive training: students learn how to identify well-built hives, repair them, and adapt their beekeeping equipment to their specific needs.
• A covered beekeeping workshop
Allows practical work to continue in all weather conditions and ensures continuity in technical learning.
 
 
Multilingual Training Adapted to Everyone:
• Teaching in French, English, and Kinyarwanda: To meet the diversity of African and international learners, we adapt our materials and teaching methods to the languages spoken by participants.
Professional Infrastructure Serving Education:
• 20 school apiaries, each equipped with 14 Rwandan hives, all populated with R4 colonies: These apiaries allow students to observe and practice throughout the year under optimal conditions, through an experience-based learning approach.
• An FDA-certified honey house: Students participate in extraction and packaging processes within an environment that complies with international food safety standards.
 

ABEEA is also a socially committed organization dedicated to creating skilled rural employment opportunities and empowering women and young people.

ABEEA is also a socially committed organization dedicated to creating skilled rural employment opportunities and empowering women and young people.

VISIT US

Mutunda Huye, Mbazi, Mutunda

ROBEEC LTD

EMAIL

robeecltd@gmail.com

CONTACT

+250782797153

(Mon- tue) at 9.am to 6pm