Two Sides of the Strait
Bridging Cultures through communityBeekeeping
Contents
General information …………………………………… 3 Project objectives……………………………………… 4 Abstract…………………………………………………..5 Context……………………………………………….......5 Location…………………………………………………..6-7 Project description………………………………….….. 8 Phase I ……………………………………………….….9 Beekeeper Training Weekend…………………………………….…….9 Hands on Beehive Building workshop……………………………….…9 Theoretical sessions……………………………………………………..10 Local Beekeepers Lunch and Question and Answer Session……...10 Ongoing Study Group……………………………………………………11 Hive construction – photos………………………………………………12 Installing hives – photos………………………………………………….13 testimonials………………………………………………….…………….14 Phase II …………………………………………….……15 Women as beekeepers…………………………………..…15 Artist residency program……………………………….16 Benefits to the communities……………………………17 Monitoring, evaluation and follow-up………………….18 Project partners…………………………………….……19 . Budget……………………………………………………19 Who we are…… ………………………………...………20 Contact…………………………………………...………20 Appendix I Beekeeping Curriculum…………………21-23 Appendix II Andalucia Monthly group meetings……24-27 Appendix III Flora Studies - Nectar flow seasons……28-29
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Coordinated by: Jorge Gallardo / Colectivo Arriero, Karmit Evenzur/ Earth Speaks and Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas /Beefree Apiaries. Beekeeping education imparted by: Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas /Beefree Apiaries. Beneficiary communities: Novice and experienced beekeepers, local communities and anyone who is interested in exploring the theory and practice of natural beekeeping, in Southern Andalucia and Northern Morocco. Where and when: Phase 1- Beekeeping in rural communities: Natural beekeeping workshop. Santa Lucía (Vejer de la Frontera) Andalucía, Spain. March 12th -15th , 2015 In collaboration with the neighbors association “Pedro Esquivel”. **See appendix I for workshop reflections, photos and video. Phase 2- Beekeeping in rural communities: Natural Beekeeping workshop. Rural area around Larache, Northern Morocco. Preliminary investigation and groundwork preparation September 2015. Workshop dates to be confirmed with local partners. Contact To support our project in any way please get in touch: info@earth-speaks.net
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Project Objectives: 1. Create new relationships between two communities in two continents that have a lot in common; one in Southern Spain and one in Northern Morocco, through the holistic understanding and practices of the honeybee. 2. Establish educational based beehives which serve to inspire environmental awareness and natural/ bee-centered beekeeping ideas in the surrounding community. 3. Use the honeybee and the social structure of the colony as a model and inspiration for community building through artistic projects and cultural events. 4. Provide food source of honey with its great nutritional value through increased activity of beehives, as well as other bee products that can be cultivated and used.
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Abstract: Only 14 kilometers separate Spain from Morocco, and though our cultural practices reveal differences, our tie to the environment and the way in which we relate to our surroundings remind us of our innate similarities. Beekeeping has enriched both communities for hundreds of years. Historically, the trade of cultivating and caring for bees went beyond its enhancement of the agricultural industry and had a greatly positive impact on the social sector. Bees were celebrated for their relentless work habits as well as their seasonal offerings. However, over time, and the modernization of the agricultural industry much of this symbiotic relation was lost to an agricultural approach that exploits bees for their products. When bees are exposed to the demanding situations of intensive mono crop agriculture, they become overworked, malnourished, and therefore unhealthy and as a result are dying off at alarming rates. Bees and their pollination work are necessary to our existence and their current state is only a reminder of the changes we must make; from exploitation to collaboration. Two sides of the Strait | Bridging cultures through Beekeeping is a project that explores new approaches for living with bees.
Context: The Strait of Gibraltar is uniquely located between two continents, two Seas, and forms a natural border between two cultures that share a rich history together. The two sides of the Strait; Southern Spain and Northern Morocco, share a common ecosystem, sharing similar fauna and flora, soil types and habitats. Two sides of the Strait | Bridging cultures through Beekeeping is a community driven initiative based on education and ‘bee empowerment’. Bees connect people with their environment, with natural cycles and rhythms. We believe the wisdom of the honeybee can inspire communities on both sides of the Strait, who could benefit from weaving economical, environmental and cultural ties that highlight what they share in common. We propose to work with the honeybee and the products derived from the hive not only as a sustainable practice that can benefit the local economies and local environmental practices, but also as a source of inspiration for renewed social structures.
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Location The purpose of partnering Vejer de la Frontera (Southern Spain) and Larache (Northern Morocco) beekeepers as our beneficiary communities throughout their development, lies in their geographical proximity ,shared history, and ecological similarities. These two cultures have much in common and yet often seem very far apart.
On the Andalucian coast of the Strait of Gibraltar we will base our activities in the area of Vejer de la Frontera, a hilltop town with a rich history dating back to the late Bronze age. It is said that ‘Beser’s people, in habitants of Vejer in the times of Tartessos, were true and faithful descendants of the old Tartessan King Gargoris, who first learned how to domesticate the humble bee, and for many centuries to come, the town would bear the nickname ‘Vejer of the honey’. The village of San Ambrosio, which lies on the foothills of Vejer also has historical connection to the production and processing of honey. The site of the Ermita de San Ambrosio has excavations dating back to pre-Roman times where it is believed beeswax candle making and other bee products were processed. Today there are about half a dozen independent small scale beekeepers in the area, and one larger scale beekeeper company in near-by Chiclana (Aplicola Patiño). Currently, beekeepers are faced with the harsh reality of the increasing amount of varroa mites which, if otherwise untreated, leads to diminishing amount of colonies. Due to the lack of education as well as limited options in treatment types, harsh applications are often inefficient and lead to
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further growth of mite populations which eventually extend to other apiary sites. These issues, if left untreated, lead to diminished colony numbers and as a result a decrease in area pollination. 2 Sides of the Straight, Bridging cultures through beekeeping aims to address these present day issues affecting Vejer de la Frontera Beekeepers by integrating a holistic understanding of the beehive with appropriate treatment plans on a community level. In Northern Morrocco, we are interested in working primarily on the north western coast, in the area of Larache. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, Larache is located at the mouth of the Loukkos River. It’s economy rests on fishing and local agriculture. The area has been inhabited for two millenia, as can be seen in ruins of the ancient city of Lixus. Larache was Spanish from the beginning of the 1900 and was transferred from Spanish control to Morrocco in 1956, though Spanish culture remained strong till the mid 70’s with many Spaniards living there in close community with the arab and Jewish communities. We are interested in exploring the ties between the cultures that can be built anew. We are currently in collaboration with an educational beekeeping association in another part of the country (l'association fÊminine Oum Kalthoum et l'association des apiculteurs de Kermet Ben Salem) as well as permaculture initiative in Tetuan, and are receiving guidance on installing educational natural bee hives in the Larache countryside and in the village of Mzora in particular. The program in Morocco is scheduled to be the second phase of 2 Sides of the Strait | Bridging cultures through Community Beekeeping, and contacts as well as research are still being conducted to find the appropriate partners.
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Project description Phase I Beekeeping project in Andalucia. Workshop dates : 1215th March 2015. Santa Lucia, Vejer de la Frontera. Ongoing monthly meetings at participant’s apiaries. Phase II Beekeeping project in Northern Morocco. Preliminary contact with local collaborators September 2015. Workshop dates to be confirmed. Ongoing - Cultural and educational exchange between the groups, to be developed by participants and supported by Two Sides of the Strait team.
This beekeepers education program and hands on beehive building workshop proposes to create educational hives with two groups of people, one in Southern Spain, and one in Northern Morocco, who can then exchange experiences, practices and products. This Project will gain its success through its collaboration with local environmental groups, government initiatives, as well as previous beekeeping development work in each of the recipient beneficiary communities as a way of assuring sustainability. By sourcing bees as locally as possible, and tapping into pre-existing programs and resources, Two sides of the Straight, Bridging cultures through Community Beekeeping will highlight and only further enhance what is already locally available.
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Phase I: Beekeeper Training Weekend The Andalucia workshop, took place in Santa Lucia, Vejer de la Frontera, in March 2015. Asociacion AA.VV Pedro Esquivel gave us their kind collaboration and provided the workshop space at the ‘Aula de la Naturaleza, los Molinos de Agua’. Since then we have established on-going monthly beekeepers meetings at participant’s apiaries. *See Appendix II for detailed reports of these meetings. Our workshop took place over the course of five days. It consisted of: - 2 afternoons dedicated to beehive building, - 2 full days of introductory beekeeping theory. - a visit to the apiary site of a local traditional beekeeper. - a question and answer session with established community beekeepers. - a visit to each of the participant’s home in order to help situate the beehive location and introduce a colony of bees to each hive.
Hands on Beehive Building workshop The 8 hours given for the full construction and finishing treatment of the beehives over 2 afternoons allowed time for participants to engage with one another, assist in the construction of each other’s hives as well as ask questions which all helped in the initiation of a new beekeeping community. We worked with the Beefree beehive model which is a modified top bar hive, specifically designed with the bee’s health in mind. By providing bees with a space similar to that of what they look for in nature and by allowing them to create their wax combs based on the particular needs of the hive, the colony’s collective defense system is better prepared to defend against pathogens, bacteria and diseases such as the Varroa mite. Once the brood box has been established, the hives continued growth can be facilitated through the use of standard Langstroth style honey supers, which the honey can be harvested from the wax with the use of a centrifugal force extractor.
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Theoretical sessions The theoretical sessions began with providing the group with background information on the natural tendencies of honeybees and the colony as well as a multitude of alternative styles of hives that accommodate the bees natural comb building. We created the area’s nectar flow calendar based on the group’s observations of available flowering plants and trees throughout the year. Group member actively participated in naming plant sources and as we organized the seasonal management hive maintenance work, beekeepers began to make sense of what was required from them as beekeepers. We proceeded to provide a detailed description of the legal requirements for keeping bees as well as the necessary paperwork, information about the various labels for registering them as well as detailed information on pathogens and what to look for during routine checks of the hive. * See Appendix I for detailed curriculum.
Local Beekeepers Lunch and Question and Answer Session
Following the completion of our theoretical session we were joined by five local beekeepers and their families for lunch and a group question and answer session to follow. The opportunity served for us to both learn from their experiences as well as share with them the alternative beekeeping style, which we introduced. Local beekeepers spoke enthusiastically of their experiences over the years and the conversation served as a great tool for better serving the beekeeping community.
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Ongoing Study Group Continued guidance and an open group dialogue were felt to be necessary for the success of the program. Issues, doubts and comments that arose as the bees filled their brood box with comb and as the season evolved, are being raised and addressed on a monthly basis as we meet in each other’s apiaries, and an online forum for questions has been established (google groups / Apijanda). It is our aim to work creatively with the new beekeepers to explore how to work with hives in a ‘bee centered’ way. By focusing on skill building through the holistic understanding of the honey bee on a small scale level our workshop with Andalucian beekeepers was aimed to inspire local beekeepers and those interested in learning beekeeping. Our work stems from an understanding of the bee colony as a whole organism and that new ways in working with the intelligence of this organism are to be sought in order to ensure the health of the colonies.
Here is a link to a short video made after the Andalucia workshop, March 2015: https://vimeo.com/135962331
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Hive construction workshop, Andalucia 2015.
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Installing Beehives in participant’s apiaries. Andalucia workshop.
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What Participants say: ‘The beekeeping workshop with Karmit and Kahlyn was an inspirational experience of collaboration in community. From building our own hybrid hives, to learning all about the life cycle and work of bees, the issues facing bees in today's world, and finally installing our own queens and worker bees in our hives it was a transformational experience. In the course of a few days we went from knowing practically nothing, to being excited new beekeepers with a vision, and a local community of beekeepers to share our experience with. In the following months we have become increasingly confidant with our hives, and have come to feel that the design of a top bar nucleus is a way to allow the bees to create the perfect healthy environment for themselves in order to have the maximum resistance to parasites and disease. This coming year we are excited to expand our hives, build new, upgraded models, and expand our community to include new beekeepers in our area. The amazing work of bees is a lesson for us, and inspires us to build a community as resilient and collaborative as them.’ Andrew Zionts Vejer de la Frontera 2015 I have always wanted to keep bees but somehow it seemed like an intimidating project, so for me it was wonderful to learn about beekeeping in such a complete and supportive way. From making the hives while getting to know the group, to learning the 'theory' and understanding the fascinating life if the bee as super-organism, understanding the threats, challenges and opportunities, meeting local beekeepers and welcoming the nucleus to our hive, the course was intensive, fun and supportive. But for me the best part has been the mini-community formed during the course. We made new friends and forged deeper connections with old friends; the formally arranged follow up meetings to check on progress are useful - but so too are the emails from the group with questions and answers and the support offered informally from other members of the group. I hope the course is repeated here to grow our community and I hope it happens in other places so other communities have the chance to connect and learn together the gentle art of beekeeping . Thanks Karmit, Jorge, Kaitlyn and team! Joanna Crowson, Paternilla Vejer de la Frontera 2015
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Phase II: We are currently in contact with various possible partners from the beekeeping sector in Northern Morocco, including a permaculture project in Tetuan which is interested in collaborating and guiding our initiative for community vitalization through beekeeping in northern Morocco. As development of the beekeeping sector in Morocco greatly depends on integrated applications of improved beekeeping techniques and technologies, assisting local beekeepers through education and grass-roots technology support is critical. In partnership with pre-existing government programs our initiative strives to reach otherwise neglected community groups. Again, by focusing on holistic education on a small scale level, our goal is focused on broadening the local beekeeping sector by highlighting pre-existing opportunities. “Though the Northern Morrocco region offers a great potential for beekeeping, allowing for transhumance practices (moving beehives from one geographic area´s pollination time to the next), the sector suffers numerous problems and constraints. An accompanying policy of beekeeping is necessary to allow an optimum utilization of natural resources and a revitalization of this sector in order to improve living standards of the local people. The creation of professional associations would be of great importance beekeeping development and local products promotion. Moreover, beekeeping helps to maintain the local ecosystems balance, and presents an aspect of indirect uses of natural resources” (Sbai, 1998; Programme Natura 2008; Arnaud,Clermont-Ferrand & Reims, 2009).
Women as Beekeepers By focusing on the inclusion of women into the field of beekeeping we begin to tap into a previously marginalized group, therefore diversifying as well as balancing the labor sector. By providing women with a means of a sustainable income we can assure that the profits will be appropriately distributed according to individual family needs. Knowing that women more greatly provide for the overall well being of the family unit, educating them with the skills of beekeeping will directly affect the overall health of the family both economically and socially. We are currently in contact with a women’s group. The introduction of our holistic workshop in Andalusia and Larache, Northern Morocco will demonstrate how beekeeping based on the principles of bee health and nutrition will carry forward the same benefits.
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Artist residence program: To accompany the process of community building through the study and practices of beekeeping, we are creating a series of artist residencies to explore the relationship between the inner and outer landscapes that the honeybee inhabits. By using practices of contemplation and imagination as a way of gaining other perspectives on the world of the honeybee, we propose to explore the possiblity of creatively engaging with the hives within their landscape, to consider the honeybee’s wisdom and teachings. The first Bee Time Artist Residency took place in April 2016, over a two week period. Five artists met with our community of beekeepers. They explored the relationships the local beekeepers have with their hives, and began constructing a large human size skep, in which they would be able to sit, in the darkness, paying attention to the dance between their own inner world and individual work, and the outer, collective life. The coming and going of people from the neighbourhood and the beekeeping community meant that they were constantly 'collecting pollen' from these social interactions. Each artist began their individual process in response to these experiences and they exhibited their work in progress to the wider public at the end of the residency. More residencies are planned for Autum 2016 and Spring 2017. For more information click here. To request an application form, and for any other enquiries, please email info@earth-speaks.net
Photo by Lydia Heath / Santa Lucia / April 2016
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Benefits to the communities involved 1. Connecting 2 communities, one in southern Spain and one in Northern Morocco, through the holistic understanding of the honeybee. Personal and cultural ties will be forged between the two neighboring communities, by focusing on common goals, and shared interests. Skills can be shared and new markets can be celebrated. And though each community’s needs may be different, depending on their respective socioeconomic conditions, much can be learned through their partnership by further strengthening community understanding of environmental issues and sustainable living. 2. Establish educational based beehives, which serve as a learning resource for the surrounding community. Pedagogical support in the form of ongoing study group, and available learning material will be established as further learning and participation tools. Additionaly, local beekeepers will be invited to share the learning and processes of natural beekeeping so that a dialogue considering different methods of beekeeping can be established, sharing information about what works in the area, and what can be improved. 3. Increase environmental pollination through increased presence of healthy honey bees, thus augmenting crop growth and available food sources. Introducing beefree beehives which insure stronger health of the colony and therefore productivity, will exponentially affect the pollination rate of surrounding agriculture and there for food production by up to 70%. Hence, the food grower, the beekeeper as well as the community consuming the products will all positively benefit. 4. Provide food source of great nutritional value through increased production of beehives. Beekeeping has intrinsic health and economic benefits through providing a food source of great nutritional value. By expanding the beekeeping sector towards women and incorporating their involvement, we can insure that our products specifically focused on family nutrition and health will reach the household level as well as provide income for a previously marginalized group. Other hive products such as pollen, propolis, and wax will be harvested and worked with for their nutritional / economic benefits.
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Monitoring, evaluation and follow-up
1. Local pedagogical and practical support groups - 2 Sides of the Strait | Bridging cultures through Community Beekeeping will create a local beekeeper study group during our initial workshops to ensure both short term and long term follow-up assistance to novice beekeepers. This support group will be encouraged to meet on a monthly basis or as issues arise in order to support the ongoing development of the new beehives. A community leader will be identified from each beneficiary group in both Vejer de la Frontera and in Larache, and act as a contact person between the community and the project organisers. 2. Program assessment - A socio-economic and program quality survey will be given to all participatory members following our initial workshop in order to assess program quality and measure program progress over the long term. A formal report will be given following each training session and include suggestions for future workshops. 3. Follow up workshop - A follow up training session will be held 6 months to a year after the initial workshop in September 2015 in order to address ongoing issues and prepare hives for wintering and the coming honey harvest. 4. Weaving cultural & economic ties between the two communities (Andalusia and N.Morrocco). Following the establishment of the partnering projects, during this follow up workshop, experiences will be shared between each beneficiary group through their unique creative initiatives. Our intention is that the collaborative aspect between the two groups will arise out of participants’ impulses and ideas, and be supported by our team, thus giving the power to these communities to be creative in how they relate to each other.
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Confirmed partners •
Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas - Community beekeeping educator, http://beefreeapiaries.org/
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Ascociacion Pedro Esquivel, Santa Lucia
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Colectivo Arriero - art and Nature colective https://www.facebook.com/colectivoarriero
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Earth Speaks – geomancy and creative impulses in nature. https://www.earth-speaks.net
Budget Phase I of the project was partially funded by participant’s fees to the workshop. Participant fees were collected to cover hive material costs, and bee costs. Coordination of the course and delivery of the course were partially covered and any funding acquired will aim to cover the remaining costs as specified in the business plan. Further funding is being sought for our second phase in Morocco, as well as the artist residency program. Please contact us to view detailed business plan.
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Who we are A la velocidad de la Luz is a cultural association focusing it's action in the theme of art and ecology, encouraging social creatives to promote an open exchange of knowledge between diverse cultural groups. The association creates spaces that inspire a deep connection in nature, inviting creative responses and artistic expression of this connection . One of its main objectives is to seek and explore a sense of intuitive group coherence to strengthen the intangible wisdom of the collective.
Kahlyn Keilty Lucas – As a way of uniting her studies in sustainable
development and her love of travel, Kahlyn began working with bees in 2010. Her work in beekeeping education developed in various places in the USA, Europe and since 2012, in her beekeeping educational project in Ethiopia, where she works with local communities to develop sustainable practices. Now living in Madrid, she is creating an organic farm and is conituing pursuing her passion of working with bees in a natural, sustainable way. http://beefreeapiaries.org/
Karmit EvenZur works in the field of geomancy (earth energy work) and
facilitates seminars for people who wish to deepen their connection with invisible aspects of Nature. For the past ten years she has been creating educational tools to enhance a sensitivity to Living Systems and leads seminars within an educational program called Earth Speaks. Living in Andalucia and getting to know the Strait of Gibraltar, she has been drawn to explore the relationship between the cultures that inhabit the ‘two sides of the Strait’. In this Project she brings together her passion for beekeeping and community building around environmental issues. http://www.earth-speaks.net/
Jorge Gallardo & Colectivo Arriero – ‘creadores de contextos’.
Colectivo Arriero centres it’s activities in creating spaces in which the individual can come into contact with the environment. Their work focuses on various activities in the realm of contemporary art and community work, and in rhythm with the natural cycles of nature itself. Jorge Gallardo and Angela Lopez of Colectivo Arriero are based in the world of theatre and performing arts and are dedicated to creating exploratory spaces and activities to build bridges between artistic work and our understanding of nature. https://www.facebook.com/colectivoarriero
Grupo de trabajo AA.VV Pedro Esquivel – Neighbourhood
association ‘Pedro Esquivel’ of Santa Lucia is formed by professionals from the environmental education sector, dedicated to culture, sport, rural tourism, and environmental education. It’s objectives are to dissimenate ecological values and offer spaces to exchange knowledge and experiences that help develop a respect for the natural environment. https://www.facebook.com/groups/524263737585221/
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Contact To support our project in any way please get in touch: info@earth-speaks.net colectivoarriero@gmail.com
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Appendix I Curriculum Covered
The honeybee colony as a superorganism.
Understanding the ‘Bien’ – the concept of the whole colony as a superorganism.
The honeybee as a sacred symbol in history.
The role of the honeybee as venerated, sacred symbol in different cultures.
Bee biology
The colony Workers drones and the queens Duties of the queen, workers and drones Queen less colony The unfertilized queen Bees calendar
Bee keeping technology and equipment
Types of bee hives (brick hive, K.T.B, local woven, TBH, Warre, langstroth) Construction of different types of hive Advantages and disadvantages of the above Smokers Veils Bee hive tool Swarm catcher scents Bee gloves and boots Advantages of bee equipment.
Bee keeping rural development
Factors considered in starting a beekeeping project. Apiary site selection Tree species that favors honey productions Looking after bees Feeding bees.
Rules and regulations affecting beekeepers
Licencing and Registration Maximum hive number Distance requirements Licencing Conventional Ecological Biodynamic
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Hiving of colonies
Use of baiting method Use of catching box Hiving a clustered swarm Transfer of wild colonies Hiving by dividing an established colony(colony multiplication) Uniting a swarm to a colony
Bee pathology
Broad disease American foul brood European fowl brood Other abnormal conditions include; the children brood, the starved brood, the bald brood, store brood Nosema- like protozoa Nosema (nosema apis) Dysentery Paralysis
Common practices in apiary management
swarming Hive inspection Brooding Formation of a nucleus Feeding of bees Watering of bees Keeping of records
Extraction of honey and other bee products
Honey harvesting and what to look for (quality) Extractions of honey (processing) traditional methods and modern methods of processing. Bee wax extractions Equipment needed
Bee keeping economy
Government standard National apicultural policy Products from the industry.
Pollination and bee flora
Foraging flowers for field bees =Shelter establishment Trees that favor honey production- eg acacia species, eucalyptus species. Environmental issues put into consideration
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Collection of Therapeutic Bee Products
Administration of Therapeutic Bee Products
-equipment preparation and collection techniques of bee products -Propolis screens -Pollen Boxes -Wax preparation -Preparation of Propolis tinctures and appropriate administration -Drying and hygienic conservation of Pollen -Appropriate administration of Pollen -Wax filtering and Preparation Seminars depending on community needs
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Appendix II: Monthly study group reports It is our aim to work creatively with the new beekeepers to explore how to work with hives in a ‘bee centered’ way. By focusing on skill building through the holistic understanding of the honey bee and beekeeping on a small scale level, our workshop marked the beginning of community based learning. We have established monthly ongoing meetings in participants apiaries as well as an online forum where questions are answered and information is shared (Google groups / apijanda). April 2015. We had our first meeting two weeks after installing the colonies in their new places. After a week of heavy rain that proceeded the day we installed the hives, we made sure we topped up the sirop we had prepared with organic sugar and herbs to aid the bees in having enough energy supply to draw their comb. We visited two hives: Joanna and Chris in Paternilla Miguel and Carmen in Paternilla. Before opening the hives we spent some time in contemplation of the hives and entering into a quiet space where we could approach the hives with gentleness and respect. Both hives had a number of comb drawn already from the top bars. We noted that Joanna and Chris’s hive had drawn comb faster and had bigger combs. We noted the flora available around us, and became familiar with handling the top bars and the bees. May 2015– A visit to Andrew and David’s hive. We began our meeting with a lengthy discussion of our experiences so far. For most people the consensus was that they do not want to disturb the bees by opening the hive too much. We heard about a honey eating beetle that was found in Paco’s hive in Santa Lucia, and therefor established the importance of opening the hive from time to time to inspect for bee moth, the beetle and other plagues that can affect the colony. We opened their hive, cleaned the bottom panel where we found some varroa mites and bee moth larvae. We noted brood in the comb and added the extra honey box. At Joanna and Chris’s apiary, we also added the honey box. Their brood box was full of comb and one small piece that was being built across two bars was taken and all shared the joy of tasting a bit of very liquid honey. Paloma had lost her hive. July 2015– visiting Curro’ss hives in Conil. He has built two more hives since our workshop and has populated them but was left with two out of the three. His bees have built the comb diagonally ignoring the direction of the top bars. We discussed possible reasons for this and how this can be worked with. Different varroa
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treatments were discussed and how to assess whether to treat your colony or not. Everyone noticed that the queen was laying less in the heat of the summer, that there were less bees coming in with pollen and that they were working quite hard to keep the entrance fanned to keep cool so we decided to put insulating material on the roof to help keep temperatures down.
Autumn 2015 – More hive visits and preparation for Winter. None of our members harvested any honey, as this was the hive’s first year and we all wanted to leave as much honey as posible for the bees. Local beekeeper’s wife from La Muela, taught us how to make a traditional récipe called Meloja – cooking pumkin and spagethi squash with honey left over in the wax after honey extraction.
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Winter 2015/16 – Some of our members suffered hive losses, mainly due to the wax moth, which we learned, devestates a colony if the latter is already weak due to other reasons. We learned two methods of dealing with this issue, and for some it worked and others not. Spring 2016 – In March 2016 our group organised a hive building workshop, to prepare new hives for the coming swarming season. New members joined us for a heart warming community weekend, where several new designs were built. This activity was led by the members themselves, the more experienced beekeepers guiding the newcomers. We continued our studies with a visit to rancho Cortesano, the organic apiary and honey museum in Jerez de la Frontera, where we were given a theoretical a well as practical experience. Members who lost their hive found new colonies and some expanded their apiary to several hives.
Our beekeepers are becoming more confident and are collectively learning from each other’s experience. It is evident that close bonds are forming between members of this community, sharing enthusiasm and love towards the honeybee.
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Appendix III: Study of the flora and Nectar flow seasons in Andalucia. Nectar flow chart we created: During the Andalucia workshop we charted the flora we have in the area month by month, looking at the nectar flow chart throughout the year. Studying the peaks and lows of available nĂŠctar in the fields, we charted different beekeeping activities that should be done in the various times. A detailed month by Month chart is being created by participants.
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{ Study of flora in andalucia occidental (has some info about cadiz litoral) http://institucional.us.es/revistas/lagascalia/15.1%20extra/62 %20talavera.pdf } {study of meliferous flora in the pre rif (province of Taza) http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/luaz/n36/n36a07.pdf }
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