News

COSTA RICA

The Regional Programme for the Keeping of Honeybees and Stingless Bees (PRAM) has evolved since 1990 through work between the National University of Costa Rica and the Bee Research Department at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. Following the arrival of African bees in Costa Rica the incidence of bee diseases increased due to the importation of queens from countries where these diseases frequently occur. PRAM is now teaching beekeepers how to manage their colonies to prevent diseases, and how to treat infected hives. There will also be better control over the products that are used to treat bees for disease. This is a major objective of the National Bee Health Programme in co-operation with the apiary inspectors of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Source: PRAM Report 1999-2000

KENYA

Around the slopes of Mount Kenya the number of livestock and hives you own determines social status. If you do not own a hive you cannot borrow honey even for medicinal purposes (you are not considered man enough to face the bee sting: beekeeping is traditionally male a occupation).

For this reason a prospective beekeeper set up two top-bar hives directly behind his house. The hives were soon occupied, but the bees attacked his wife and daughters. Determined to keep both hives and family he tried to find out what was going on as the bees only attacked the ladies! After two days of scrutiny he concluded that the bees attacked early in the morning, either irritated or excited by the perfumes in the cosmetics and soaps his family used. He applied the same cosmetics to his hives twice a day for three days. After a week the bees stopped their attacks when the familiar scent no longer bothered them.

Source: Nyuki Newsletter

INDIA

Workshop on reviving beekeeping in the Western Ghats The tropical forests of the Western Ghats in Karnataka are among the 18 bio-diversity hotspots in the world. The plant and floral diversity has evolved along with the diversity of bees in this region. There are three main types of indigenous honey producing bees: Apis cerana, Apis dorsata and Trigona sp. For the past 50 years there has been a systematic effort to domesticate beekeeping with Apis cerana and Trigona bees. The rock or giant honeybee Apis dorsata is found in the forests and mountains and migrates long distances. Honey hunters harvest from both Apis cerana and Apis dorsata.

Traditional beekeeping with Apis cerana is in logs and earthen pots. Beekeeping with boxes started in 1929. Coorg became famous for its honey that was in great demand due its special taste and quality. Since 1979 there has been a gradual decline in beekeeping. To assess the beekeeping status in the region and initiate steps to revive it, a two-day workshop was organised in March 2001. The problems faced by the beekeepers were discussed and they confirmed that since its arrival in 1992, Thai Sacbrood Virus (TSBV) has been the main reason for the decline in beekeeping. Many farmers have tried indigenous plant based medicines, but these have been ineffective. Beekeeper Sri N V Sharma reported that he has developed a herbal medicine that successfully controls TSBV.

During the workshop one group visited young beekeeper Dharmendra. He has 30 Apis cerana colonies and two Apis mellifera colonies. He also has experience of harvesting Apis dorsata colonies. Dharmendra invented his own ingenious method of controlling TSBV. He collects Apis cerana colonies from the plains that have resistance to TSBV and are a different strain from those in the hilly region. The second group visited Beekeeper Venkatramana. He had 10 colonies but has lost nine to TSBV, and the remaining colony is infected. TSBV is in decline, but from time to time cases appear and destroy colonies.

Is Apis mellifera the solution?

In response to the spread of TSBV, Apis mellifera has been introduced into the area. It was claimed that Apis mellifera is resistant to TSBV and would produce more honey. Beekeepers at the workshop observed its introduction has been a failure because:

- It is slow and not adapted to tropical conditions, falling prey to birds and predators.

- It does not forage on local plants, especially in the hilly region.

- The colony does not develop from October to March.

- It is susceptible to mites and needs constant medication.

- Hives are bigger, consuming more wood, increasing the fixed cost per hive, and the cost of purchasing the imported colony is high.

- Expensive sugar feeding is required in the rainy season when the bees will not fly.

- Often a new Apis mellifera queen takes a long time to mate or does not mate.

- The taste of the honey is considered bland in comparison to ‘local’ honey (medicine men prefer honey from Apis cerana).

Mogens Jensen from Denmark said that it is difficult to Keep Apis mellifera in the Western Ghats. Dr M S Reddy from the Beekeeping Department said Apis mellifera beekeeping can only succeed by regular migration to areas where forage is available. There was heated debate on whether Apis mellifera should be introduced further. The majority of the participants were against this, concerned that it might lead to the importation of diseases, for example foulbrood.

Most honey on the Indian market is harvested from Apis dorsata. A session was held with the participating honey hunters to understand ways towards sustainable harvesting from giant honeybees. Tarak Kate, from the NGO Dharamitra showed how sustainable harvesting is possible by removing only part of the honeycomb, which causes minimum damage to bees and allows for further harvests from the colony.

Pratim Roy from The Keystone Foundation explained harvesting Apis dorsata colonies in the Nilgiris Hills in Tamil Nadu. He shared his experience of honey processing and marketing which helps honey hunters obtain better prices. All the participants appreciated the video presentation on honey hunters*.

Pandurang Hegde, Save Honeybees Campaign, Karnataka, Didia

* You too can enjoy this video: see Bookshelfpage 13 for a review ofKeystone’s excellent video

ETHIOPIA

Yeneneh Demissie constructing his low-cost, top-bar hive from bamboo and wood (both cheap and easily available commodities). The hives are plastered with a mud mixture (three parts earth mixed with one part cow dung and water) and left to dry for four days until the mud dries out. Next a sand mixture (three parts sand, one part cinders and one part cow dung) is applied. This topcoat covers any cracks and gives a good finish making the : hive more durable.

Abrham and Yeneneh obtained the information they needed to construct their hive from a long ago edition of B&D (Number 11 published in 1987)

SEYCHELLES

An FAO report by Angelo Isola on beekeeping in the Seychelles states that there is promise of untapped resources and great demand for the product. The 70 beekeepers could add to their numbers with a younger generation of beekeepers to expand honey production. Honeybees of the race Apis mellifera unicolor were imported to the Seychelles from Madagascar. Italian queen bees have been recently imported and this means that there is a mixing of these races of bees. The local bees are not defensive but show a tendency for swarming. This could be a result of the bees being kept in small hives. A high degree of inbreeding has led to fewer worker bees hatching and a drop in honey production. With nectar producing plants available throughout the year and the demand for local honey so high, commercial beekeeping could contribute to further diversification of the country’s agricultural base.

ZIMBABWE

Rural farmers established Matosara Beekeeping Group in 1992. Our 105 women and 95 men keep bees in top-bar log hives. We harvest 5-6 tonnes of honey and 1.5 tonnes of wax annually. The bulk of the products are sold locally and the rest on the black market. Matosara is renowned for its high quality honey furniture polish and candles. Our group’s extraordinary success is largely due to the integrity and commitment of founding members including myself, Phidelis Garambauamwe and Trace Chipunza.

Sent by Felix Tarambayamwe

USA

Breakthrough in Varroa tolerance

The suppression of mite reproduction (SMR) is a genetically inherited trait that results in Varroa-tolerant bees. This characteristic is one several found in Africanised bees that have potential use in selection programmes. The trait is widespread in the US honeybee population and is readily available in the gene pool.

Research undertaken by Jeff Harris and John Harbo at the USDA Honey Bee Breeding Laboratory in Baton Rouge shows that female Varroa in a colony do not all attempt to reproduce at the same time. In general one-third of the mites can be found on adult bees and the rest in the brood cells. Also 15-25% of mites that enter brood cells do not reproduce: these mites either die before laying eggs, live but do not lay eggs, produce only a male and no females, and/or produce progeny too late to mature before the bees emerge. One or all of these categories can be found in any one colony.

The number of non-reproducing mites in a colony is measured by examining 30 singly infested brood cells and recording the reproductive success of each female found there. Several environmental variables affect the percentage of non-reproducing (NR%) mites. These include temperature and humidity (increase NR%), season (higher NR% in summer) and climate (larger NR% in the tropics). NR mites often have no sperm (have not been mated) and in colonies selected for NR over 50% of mites are found dead ‘entrapped by the pupa cocoon’.

It takes six weeks after requeening a colony withan SMR queen to see results. This is called ‘delayed mite suppression’ or SMRd. Mite suppression occurs immediately in some populations and is known as SMRi. To show how SMR queens affect change in a colony the researchers performed several queen exchanges between control and SMR colonies, and found that mite populations became more or less reproductive dependent upon the queen received. The researchers say,

“We are confident that honeybees will become resistant to Varroa mites. In the future, bees will need fewer chemical treatments to control mites and eventually they will need none”.

A full description of this work appears in the May 2001

issue of Bee Culture and on the ARS website msa.ars.usda.gov/la/btn/hbb/jwh/SMRD/SMRD.htm

Extract from Florida Extension Beekeeping Newsletter, April 2001 sent to B&D by Charles Frederic Andios

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE NEEDED

One morning Alemseged Mengesha who lives in Wolaita Soddo, left half a glass of tea on the table when he was cailed away from his breakfast. An hour later he returned and found the glass full of dead bees. Ready to add them to the rubbish pile Alemseged was advised by a passing farmer to instead put them on some cold ash left from a fire. After 45 minutes 80% of the bees had returned to life and flown away.

Alemseged wants to share his experience and asks what is the secret behind the life giving properties: is it something in the ash?

Send your views to B&D

Source: Spore 91 2000