Bees for Development Journal Edition 62 - March 2002

Baie,

t

.

“4

lt has been

a real pleasure,

and an enjoyable experience

to fill in for Nicola while she has been working in Uganda in January. am able to leave my University of Delaware position as we have a |

winter session in which

|

do not teach during January.

return in

|

February to teach my two beekeeping courses. My development work experience has been in the Americas, as you can read in this issue. It was good to see some of the projects Bees for Development has had, and has on-going in some of the poorest countries. Not

surprisingly find that the message is the same — bees and their marvellous products — no matter how varied the audience and |

beekeeping methods used.

We invited Nicola to EAS (Eastern Apicultural Society) meetings last summer (which have served as President and Board Chairman) and had the chance to hear about Sustainable Livelinoods as a workable concept to help bring more |

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significant development funding to beekeeping projects. One task did here at Bees for Development was to review the Proceedings to come out of the Sustainable Livelihoods Symposium Bees for Development organised in year 2000 here in Wales. This publication should help set the agenda for determining if a sustainable livelihoods approach will be of assistance or not.

Strengthening livelihoods: exploring the role of beekeeping in development will be out by the time you receive this edition of B&D (details on page 13). |

asked people involved in development from the USA to join me in contributing to this issue of B&D. trust you will find the article by |

|

Mike Embrey and Bill Lord of interest and enlightening. have included also the story of Africanised honeybees in the Americas |

because it has turned out to be a significant issue of beekeeping.

The bee has so changed the beekeeping landscape in the Americas, including that of development initiatives. appreciated the chance to work with Helen on this issue and hope have been of help rather than an annoyance as we assembled what you now see. enjoyed talking with those of you who telephoned/visited Bees for Development. |

|

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even adjusted to the cloudy, misty/rainy climate of Wales in January.

Please feel free to contact me and/or Bees for Development regarding what have written. My e-mail address is dmcaron@udel.edu |

|

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wish you the best of beekeeping successes.

Cu

Dewey Caron

Contact details Bees for Development, Troy, Monmouth, NP25 4AB, UK Phone +44 (0)16007 13648 Fax +44 (0)16007 16167

E-mail busy@planbee.org.uk A Bees for Development publication

|Web

www.planbee.org.uk

.

Beekeeping & Development 62

OBSERVATION HIVES EDUCATIONAL BEEKEEPING

Potien

by Dewey M Caron, University of Delaware, USA

Observation hives are a useful educational mechanism for helping the public understand the workings of a colony and provide a great crowd attraction and display at exhibitions.

Observation hives comprise a small colony of bees maintained in a structure with clear glass or plastic

walls. They may be smaller than normal, permanent hives solidly fixed to a site for exposition or they may

If at all possible the queen should be marked so visitors can spot her. General information on the brood-food pattern of a bee colony as well as worker-

be a temporary (queenright or queeniess)

queen-drone identification and adult activities available for visitors to see and read enhances the

representation of a hive. Ideally an observation hive should be one to three frames high and only one frame

benefit of the unit. If the hive is on display and unattended it needs some easy to understand

wide but can be in larger units and even two or three frames wide although considerably fewer observations of bee colony life will be possible with such an arrangement.

The most important concept

in an observation hive is

bee space. Bee space is the room the bees leave as they move from one parallel comb to the other. For a truly observational hive only bee spacing should be permitted around the top, sides, and bottom of the

information close by to explain bee colony basics.

During attendance by beekeepers, far more detail can be imparted such as information on beekeeping, bee dancing, bee biology, the reign of the queen,

Early hive makers began to use glass to enclose their bees from the 1600s when its use became affordable.

Nobel Prize winning discoveries on bee dance language and many other bee biology discoveries have been aided by studying bees in observation hives.

days in length.

MAKING A TEMPORARY OBSERVATION HIVE The important concept is to adhere to bee space for proper viewing. Temporary observation hives should be small so they are easily transported. Depending upon the situation a hive might consist of only a single

frame and lack a queen: basically consisting of a single frame/piece of comb removed from a colony,

hive generally benefits from any other management you

put between glass/plastic walls held apart by a wooden frame of the correct dimensions to hold the

might undertake with regular colonies. Where there is a substantial non-resource season or where bees migrate,

frame (standard frame or top-bar or piece of comb cut from a non-frame hive). The temporary observation

observation hives should be made up at the beginning of the productive season and dismantled at the end.

hive should be assembled before the event, but no sooner than the day before, and then dismantled and put back into the colony it was taken from after use.

Maintenance should only be done when the attraction iS closed, or few visitors are around. Ideally the

observation hive should be sited so it can be removed

Temporary observation hives should not be unattended by the beekeeper. They can be used for an

intact from its secure site (closing its entrance both from outside and inside) and then transported to a position outside the site for dismantling or for maintenance as

event, a show, to sell one’s bee products, as they are a great crowd-pleaser. If bee basics are to be

emphasised a frame with all life stages and the queen and workers might be assembled and displayed.

necessary. An observation hive should only infrequently require such activity. Observation hives have a great

A honey-filled comb can be used for

deal of activity at the entrance so a clear entry of round tubing or a glass/plastic channel is sure to be attractive.

even sold or auctioned to the highest bidder. These hives should not be exposed to high temperatures and

Visitors can watch bees come and go, see pollen collectors, removal of dead workers, guarding and the

with fewer bees might be more susceptible to meltdown if exhibited in the sun. If the worker bees

general movement of bees into and exiting their colony.

are running wildly about try giving them water (a small hole in the top can be included to feed dilute

A small hole at the top or in the entry/exit channel should be included so a feeder of sugar water can be utilised for the bees. All other manipulations should be done with the unit outside the display area.

Glass/plastic walls might need cleaning every month — this is especially necessary if too much space is allowed for bee spacing. The glass/plastic walls may need

in the

a

sale event and

sugar water or water) to calm them down.

Many bee supply companies sell observation hives especially for Langstroth size frames. It may be just as convenient to construct an observation hive using information given in the references.

replacing annually.

A Bees for Development publication

USA.

describes a top-bar observation hive.

2.

SHOWLER,K (1985)

The observation hive.

Bee Books New and Old, Charlestown, UK.

3 . WEBSTER,T; CARON,D (1999) Observation Hives - how to set up, maintain and use

HISTORY OF OBSERVATION HIVES

Karl von Frisch used observation hives for his

honey or pollen bound; they might contract disease, and they frequently need feeding. A permanent observation

(2001) Top-bar hives

Beekeeping & Development 58. The author

Available from Bees for Development (order code W355). price 14.40

season (and sometimes well into a non-productive bee time). A temporary unit can be made within a short time of need and disassembled immediately after use — which should be only for a few hours to a couple of

begin swarming preparations; they are prone to become

1. MANGUM,W

a window to the world of honey bees.

A Root Co, Medina, USA.

The Reverend Langstroth used glass in his inner hive dimensions for his first movable-comb hive.

colony is a smaller version of an ordinary colony this may cause difficulties: the colony can get too large or too low in worker population; they can lose their queen or

REFERENCES

and honey/pollen/beeswax/propolis and their uses.

frame (or frames) you enclose and the glass viewing walls. Permanent observation hives will last an entire

Above all permanent observation hives should be secure.

Hives also need to be serviceable. Since an observation

The basics of an observation hive (taken from reference 3)

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Beekeeping & Development 62

by Mike Embrey and Bill Lord, USA

Photographs

Bill Lord

Mick Embrey and Bill Lord are extension specialists in the USA states of Maryland and North Carolina respectively. In 2001 Michael and Bill worked with the Farmer-to-Farmer project in Turkmenistan assisting beekeepers. The project is financed by Winrock International (USA).

Turkmenistan, formerly part of the Soviet Union, is a desert country in Central Asia with summer temperatures soaring as high as 50°C. The main agricultural product is cotton, and it is also the source of most of the honey.

During Soviet times all honey produced was shipped elsewhere for processing and distribution. Therefore, even though beekeepers take great care of their hives, they have little experience in processing, packaging, or sale of honey. Beekeepers need to learn processing and marketing skills so they can sell honey and increase their

incomes, which average about US$30 per month. Winrock International requested us to provide technical assistance in honey processing and marketing. Because of the

repressive political climate in Turkmenistan, it had not been possible until the year 2000 to form a beekeepers association or

co-operative. On previous trips, two attempts had been made to teach beekeepers rudimentary honey processing and sales techniques, but none of these efforts were sustained after the consultants left. Winrock

was able to form a women’s co-operative in the year 2000, and we thought that honey would be a good commodity for the co-operative to sell.

In

2001, Bill and Mike travelled

to

To liquefy the milk cans of solid honey,

Turkmenistan to work with the newly organised Ikinjiler Limited Liability Partnership (ILLP),

we helped the women’s co-operative build a hot water bath to melt the contents of three

a women’s co-operative, based in the village of Bairamaly, Turkmenistan. The object of the

cans at a time, and then constructed a double walled bottiing tank to strain and bottle the

co-operative is income generation for women, creating new jobs where none existed before, and incomes are limited to approximately US$1 per day. A $2000 grant was secured from Rotary Clubs in North Carolina, USA,

honey, all out of locally available materials.

and the funds were used to buy honey, build processing equipment, purchase jars, and

print labels. Since it had been difficult to interest beekeepers in processing and

marketing honey on previous trips, the idea here was to set the co-operative up as a

Another aspect of the project has been training in marketing techniques and opportunities. There is a limited market-based

economy in Turkmenistan. We spent considerable time reinforcing the fact that quality products sell themselves, trying to establish a foundation of good customer service, and ensuring the co-operative kept store shelves stocked with good quality honey.

middleman honey processor. It is the responsibility of the co-operative to purchase honey from local beekeepers, process and pack it, and deliver it to markets in other

towns to ensure a successful continuation of the marketing plan.

Turkmen beekeepers store raw honey in 50 litre aluminium milk cans. The cotton honey crystallizes rapidly. A survey of honey buyers in the capital Ashgabat carried out by

US Peace Corps volunteer in 1999 indicated most consumers preferred liquid honey.

a

Inspecting the freshly bottled honey.

A Bees for Development publication

An arta offrom the honey

co-operative filling jars with locally made bottling tank

Beekeeping & Development 62

Much honey is bartered, but little is sold for cash. Clearly the problem for Turkmenistan is not producing honey but in marketing and distribution.

The rest of our time in Charjou was spent in seeking out markets for processed honey.

The grocery stores in Turkmenistan are primarily state owned stores, a throwback to communist times. Product quality and presentation has been poor in these stores, though there are efforts to modernise some of them. We met with the district manager of the

state stores in the Charjou area, who was interested in carrying honey. With

55 stores under his supervision,

it would have

been a great opportunity. However, difficulties in invoicing and finding ways to pay the

co-operative for honey has prevented the state stores from accepting honey for sale. A sale

was made to the local state owned bakery, where a more progressive manager found a

way to circumvent the bureaucratic maze

of the banking system and pay for the honey.

bis One of the biggest obstacles is the lack of jars in the country, despite abundant sand and natural gas that could be used to manufacture glass.

Lack of jars and simple processing equipment is typical in former Soviet republics, since under the USSR, the republics produced raw materials, but most processing was carried out in mother

Russia. As the former Soviet

republics struggle to develop, building basic manufacturing capacity for items like jars and

hives

explaining local beekeeping ea tatete He explained that beekeepers in Turkmenistan have been dealing with Varroa for more than AO years. A good method of Varroa mite contro! that Mike learned from the Professor

was that during the summer the beekeepers close up the hive entrances and replace the top covers with glass. This raises the temperature of the hives and kills the mites. They closely monitor the temperature and remove the glass before harm comes to the bees. Perhaps this

Back in Ashgabat, the capital, we stumbled across a vendor selling 500 g Russian-made jars out of the back of a rusting shipping container at the huge Tolkuska market on the outskirts of the city, Tolkuska means

‘push-push’ in Turkmen, as the massive open air market is always crowded with pushing crowds of buyers and sellers. While many consumer goods cannot be found in the stores

Ashgabat, if you have patience, you can frequently find what you need at Tolkuska.

We got lucky on the honey jars, as the vendor had 50,000, and they were both cheaper and of better quality that the few lranian-made jars we had been able to find to supply the women’s co-operative. in

cardboard boxes is a tremendous challenge.

method can be successfully applied elsewhere in the world? The Professor also demonstrated

After setting up the women’s co-operative in the honey processing business, Bill and Mike

application of aerosol acid to the bees for Varroa control.

Our latest update tells us the co-operative has been able to get their honey into a large

Narkuly and his beekeeping mentor Dovran work for a local farm co-operative to which

Turkish department store that has recently opened in Ashgabat. The honey is selling well, and the women are very pleased with the

travelled to other parts of Turkmenistan to meet beekeepers and develop markets for processed honey. One destination was Charjou, a city of one million people located on the Amu Darya (Oxus) River on the border with Uzbekistan. In a village close to Charjou,

Mike and Bill met ‘Professor’ Narkuly, a beekeeper who had been raising and caring for bees for over fifty years. When Mike showed the Professor the newly designed screened hive bottom boards he was beginning to use in the USA for Varroa mite reduction, the Professor showed Mike the one he and other

Turkmen beekeepers have been using for years.

they give 9.5 kg of honey every year for the use of the hives and Jand. Although they could sell the rest of the honey crop, they were limited to the local village and surrounding area due to lack of transportation. This is a widespread problem in Central Asia, where

population centres are widely scattered and local markets are very poor. Beekeepers had considerable amounts of honey, as much as

five tonnes, stored in milk cans, but were unable to sell their honey.

A Bees for Development publication

profits from the honey business and the opportunities the additional income opens up for their families. The beekeepers from whom the co-operative are buying honey are happy

too, as they begin to see cash income for their hard earned honey.

Beekeeping & Development 62

AFRICANISED HONEYBI

by Dewey M Caron, University of Delaware, USA

Photographs

Dewey M Caron

Human association with honeybees is a long one. We have and continue to move bees, beekeeping equipment and the products of bees as we travel. Thus it was not unusual for Brazilian beekeepers to look elsewhere for better adapted bee stock as they

sought to improve beekeeping return in the 1950s. The resulting importation of African bee queens into Brazil would, like our repeated importations of Varroa into countries, prove to be a costly, serious mistake. Africanisation of honeybees in the Americas from Argentina to the south-western USA (with only Chile and a few Caribbean islands as exceptions) has completely changed the culture of raising bees in the Americas. Paradoxically it has also opened new opportunities for rural development using bees.

HISTORY OF AFRICANISATION

MANAGEMENT

Africanised bee swarm as the bees colonised

Beekeepers with European bee experience have universally expressed optimism in their ability to handle Africanised bees, both before

Panama and the Isthmus of the Americas in

their arrival and then for one or two years

1982. Like swarms elsewhere this one was gentle to handle and hive. Since 1982 have

post-arrival. In fact, in every country Africanised honeybees have colonised,

travelled among the countries and visited

beekeeping has been negatively impacted in numbers of managed colonies and honey harvested. Many, but not all commercial

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was involved

in the capture of the first

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many beekeepers, old and new, who have had to deal with the population of Africanised

honeybees. The Africanised bee population is well suited for tropical/sub-tropical conditions and has advantageous biology for colonisation of new territory. Today nobody particularly ‘likes’ the bee but they have no other option

as repeated attempts to reintroduce European (temperate-adapted bees) have repeatedly

beekeepers, quit beekeeping and virtually all part-time/hobbyists have given up their bees.

Beekeeping techniques practised with European honeybees sometimes lead to stinging incidences involving animals and humans. Some instances do unfortunately result in death to people or animals from

Beever

oni

case

a toxic reaction of too many stings in too short

your apiary location (nobody wants to be an

a time period. The beekeeper trying to keep

these bees is often the first to suffer with these

apiary neighbour but isolated sites invite night time vandalism and honey and/or hive stealing).

somewhat longer in higher elevations and as it extends beyond the 30th parallel.

stinging instances.

Established beekeepers have a hard time

Changes are necessary with Africanised bees.

adjusting to the ‘new’ beekeeping.

The Africanised honeybee is a tropically

You dress for the worst, you must isolate your

failed. Once numbers arrive the changeover to Africanised genetic material is exceedingly — rapid in two years in tropical areas -

It is

adapted ecotype. virtually unchanged genetically from the bee imported in 1956, although this is a debated topic. It is not a hybrid of imported Apis mellifera scutellata

and the then existing honeybee populations of Brazil. In Brazil and in other regions to which it spread there is initial hybridisation but then

change-over to African genetic material.

The Africanised honeybee is a bee well suited a

apiary (not in distance necessarily but by maintaining it within a vegetation corral), you must inspect rapidly (either late in the day or at night), you simplify equipment to basics but proper fitting frames is a necessity, you harvest

products besides honey (the bee is an excellent pollen collector), you reduce colony numbers and space colonies within the apiary and you seek to reduce stinging incidences so you can keep

to rapid reproduction and extremely responsive to environmental conditions. By reproducing

more rapidly than temperature-adapted honeybees, it is able to exceed at the

‘numbers’ game. The bee colonises with high swarming rates and then out-reproduces the existing population of the region because it

divides more frequently and rears queens faster (in both days and in the yearly cycle) other honeybee races. It thus

than do

the existing bees. completely replaces It-4s a bee population well suited for ~ successful colonisation.

ae

neers

crepe Highway in front of the owner’s

A Bees for Development publication

NEW RESOURCE The Africanised honeybee does represent a ‘new’ resource for rural subsistence farmers campesinos of the Americas. Honeybees are readily available and free as swarms, as bee colonies in trees and caves and for honey hunting. The campesinos are not by tradition keepers of honeybees, traditionally keeping stingless bees. European honeybees seldom

Beekeeping & Development 62

EES

THE AMERICAS

IN

and could only start a new one from existing

from experiences of others; since Africanised bees have been the only Apis honeybee to have been kept in the Americas for fewer than

colonies. Bees were valuable livestock so they

50 years, new and old beekeepers and

were kept immediately adjacent to a residence.

development projects will likely experience more failures than successes In dealing with

swarm in the tropics so only well-to-do farmers could previously afford to establish a bee colony

Now Africanised bees are establishing feral colonies throughout the Americas. In wetter areas the swarms can be large mega swarms

the Africanised bee. have published the situation of the Africanised bee in the Americas and all of these points |

with several queens, the result of absconding due to the unfavourable forage conditions.

are explained in further detail in the book

Reproductive swarms occur early in the productive season and can be numerous and

Africanized Honey Bees in the Americas.

also very productive to hive and harvest.

Most swarms and absconds estabiish feral colonies within cavities or, in about 10% of cases belowa thick tree limb. These bees can be transferred to a hive or by killing the bees the honey, pollen, wax and brood can be harvested.

Training is needed to demonstrate management of Africanised bee colonies and better means of harvesting wild colonies.

The bee is manageable with Langstroth

equipment or other hives. Top-bar hives have not yet proven to be advantageous although more extensive trials are needed. Management

experience is restricted to older beekeepers with knowledge of European bee management.

These beekeepers have greatly reduced their

colony numbers and in addition to honey, harvest pollen, propolis, royal jelly and more

wax to keep their businesses solvent.

Beekeeping with Africanised bees can be part of a sustainable livelihood for the American

campesino. As in other countries a small number of managed colonies and/or harvest of wild colonies can improve a family income

by 50%. In addition to management and product harvesting, training efforts are needed to develop local markets for the harvests.

Beekeeping

Is not

easy with Africanised bees

—

dressing for stinging incidences in hot, heavy beekeeping equipment is expensive and not pleasant. Local manufacture of equipment and

veils, gloves (plus adaptation of plastic grocery bags) Is Increasing. Managing colonies as a seasonal occurrence rather than a fixed-based resource is now recognised and markets develop when there are quality products available.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE “

Much of the experience from communities in Africa and Asia needs to be communicated to

campesino beekeepers in the Americas so they do not‘reinvent the wheel’ and try and fail ‘

with the techniques already found to be unsuccessful. Alas we continually fail to benefit

A Bees for Development publication

rieechire Baling Bees in the

In

The Americas

Americas

Beekeeping & Development 62

NES AROUN CAMEROON

SWEBA News

Bonakanda Bova Bee Farmers Group

of bee farming in South West Province, South Western Bee Farmers Association

(BOBEEFAG) recently organised workshops in three villages to introduce women’s groups to beekeeping. The three meetings attracted a total of 59 participants. Business Enterprises Defying Poverty (BEDO) provided the groups with top-bar

hives, smokers, veils and other equipment. BEDO aims to support small businesses, particularly

women’s groups, with the objectives of eliminating poverty and disease. BEDO Facilitator the Hon Mrs Gwendoline Burnley MP attended the workshops to oversee the distribution

GHANA

Following a meeting to discuss the revival

(SWEBA) Members decided to organise training workshops and seminars to motivate local beekeepers. President of SWEBA, Afendia Fobella Julius encouraged bee farmers to organise themselves into clubs or common initiative groups and keep in contact with

SWEBA for training.

Ghana is noted for its tropical climate that is very conducive for African honeybees. However in 2001 there was a dramatic and negative change in the weather pattern, nectar production was less, honey harvests were reduced, and this led to a shortage of honey in local markets.

There are a lot of problems challenging the beekeeping industry including:

Afendia hobella Jutius

*

lack of capital for the construction of hives and purchase of equipment;

of equipment.

*

Lyonga Mbake Samuel, resource person from BOBEEFAG, lectured on hive management, hive

theft of honey and hive destruction by humans;

products and pollination. Participants went home with beekeeping literature (donated by

*

termites attacking hive stands;

*

danger of snakebites during harvesting

Bees for Development) and at the end of

or tending hives;

meeting enjoyed the invitation to sample honey and honey wine from the display of hive

*

spiders making webs in empty hives which trap or strangle scout bees and prevent them from reporting back to their colonies;

*

ants and lizards that attack bees

products provided by BOBEEFAG.

Lyonga Mbake Samuel (pictured right)

in

and around their nests.

In my view the best solution is the construction of a bee house, which will provide a solution

to many of the problems.

Julius Attipoe

LESOTHO The Lesotho Bee Product Company was launched

in

1999 to continue the

beekeeping work established as part of a soil, water conservation and agroforestry project initiated in 1996. The Company has the

following objectives:

ETHIOPIA Eastern Shoa Beekeepers Association has a membership of 284 including farmers, women's

*

to ensure that farmers produce the highest quality honey and hive products;

*

to give farmers a fair price for honey and arrange collection of honey from farms;

*

to ensure enough honey is produced to meet the domestic market;

*

to provide training and extension input for farmers;

*

to link with other African countries (namely Swaziland and Malawi) for entry into the

and youth groups.

The photograph sent in

by ESBA Chairman Abu Negese showsa fine display of wax and honey.

export market.

It is hoped these objectives will ensure sustainability since the company is directly dependent on the farmers and vice versa. |.

A Bees for Development publication

Mahalefele

Beekeeping & Development 62

THE ORLD

COTE D'IVOIRE

NIGERIA

THE GAMBIA

Since its formation in 1997 The Association Nationale des Apicultures de Cote d'Ivoire

Honeycomb Products Research and Technology Development Centre

Manjiki Jabang sent in this photograph showing hive construction underway at Sifoe Kafo Farm where he is President.

(ANACI!) has been actively encouraging the promotion of sustainable beekeeping and protection of the environment.

ANACI activities include: *

information dissemination on the economic and environmental importance of beekeeping to the general public as well as beekeepers;

In addition to providing advice on the beekeeping potential of a specified area, project planning and implementation, the Centre also offers village

level beekeeping training for farmers and training

Local hives are Kumbo hives made of palm.

Harvesting will take place at night when the bees are less defensive. Beekeepers use

of trainers in appropriate and sustainable beekeeping methods. The objective is increasing

protective clothing made from green cloth rather than white to reduce the risk of attack from their bees.

*

training;

awareness of the possibilities of income generation from value added products

*

research;

incorporating honey, beeswax and propolis.

*

collation of local knowledge;

The Centre's philosophy is to respect and build

pollen analysis;

on people’s existing beekeeping systems and

manufacture of

indigenous technical knowledge, promoting sustainable systems of beekeeping based

*

beekeeping equipment.

on locally available resources.

4

Sa

Details of forthcoming courses arranged by the Centre are in Learn Ahead, page 12.

Le hnaci

Akinola Ayeni

INDIA

NEPAL

Upon my return from the Apimondia Congress in Durban discovered a renewed attack of Thai

This photograph provided by S R Joshi shows Apis dorsata nesting above the statue of Rana-Krishna at Nepalgunj. In Nepai bees are considered gifts of the gods, and honey as one of the five components of Panchamnrit, ‘nectar of immortality’. Apis dorsata is known as Sinkus and Khang Mauri in Nepali.

As well as producing large quantities of honey and beeswax, Apis dorsata is very important for its pollination of wild plants and cultivated crops.

|

sacbrood virus on our bee colonies. Fortunately the virus was confined to 15% of the colonies month began to go away. seven years since the virus appeared in our area and some of the infected colonies resembled

and after

a

It is

that initial attack

—

More about beekeeping in Nepal with the ICIMOD project on page 10.

over 90% of the brood dead

in a very short time. Our project beekeepers

are making progress and hopefully we will be in a position to combat future problems with

new queens.

R Kannan, Palni Hills Conservation Council

(The review of the Proceedings of the Workshop organised by Palni Hills in 2000 is in Bookshelf page 14)

MACEDONIA Pcelarstvo Dabeski sent

a picture of the honey

labels he is using.

PEMIPOIJEHTAP

=

“ YEAAPCTBO

TABECKH“

271 642

A Bees for Development publication

It

is important to reduce the burden of overwork

WOMEN AND BEEKEEPING IN NEPAL

for village women, and also to improve their nutrition so that work is less of a strain.

by Farooq Ahmad, Uma Partap, Min Bahadur Gurung and Surendra Raj Joshi

Beekeeping can contribute to both of these. {n

This is the fifth article in the series bringing news about the work of the Austrian Government-funded beekeeping project “Indigenous honeybees of the Himalayas: a community-based approach for conserving biodiversity and increasing farm

mountain areas, backyard beekeeping with

Apis cerana can provide sufficient honey for both family consumption and sale. With little extra work, family nutrition is improved and some cash income generated. This additional income can buy

productivity” at ICIMOD in Kathmandu, Nepal. ICIMOD and Austroprojekt GmbH in Vienna, Austria jointly manage the project. In B&D 61 we told you about the problems resulting from the introduction of Apis mellifera in isolated gene-pool areas of Apis cerana. Here we focus on the benefits ‘backyard’ beekeeping can

equipment that reduces drudgery, or means that other more time-consuming income generating activities can be avoided. The wax output of

Apis cerana colonies can be used to support development of small-scale organic cosmetic

offer to mountain women.

Women are the single most neglected and underprivileged group in the rural areas of the

common to many activities, is that women often have limited access to beekeeping knowledge,

industries in the villages. Such industries provide cheap beauty products for village women, an otherwise unattainable luxury for most, and also

Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, but they are responsible for many of the activities in

and are less likely to be in a position to benefit from outside extension and training. However,

generate some cash income for them. Backyard beekeeping with Apis cerana has the added

although in Nepal women are rarely responsible for the actual beekeeping, they are generally involved in the processing and marketing of honey

important benefit of supporting pollination in the household kitchen gardens, the major source of vegetables in mountain areas, thus increasing

and other bee products.

productivity.

subsistence farming production, particularly animal husbandry. The extent to which women are involved in apicultural activities in the HKH

1

region varies from place to place. It is influenced by many factors including ethnicity, religion, local

The situation

belief system, socio-economic status, and access to information.

Clearly there is much to be gained from helping women to introduce and carry out backyard beekeeping with Apis cerana. The ICIMOD project

agriculture

is changing rapidly. Across the HKH they are increasingly becoming responsible for all the

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day-to-day operations on farms. This is the result of various factors including increased out-migration, increased emphasis on daily wage labour, and changes in cultural attitudes.

Women are often those most involved in

Nepal, women have not been involved traditionally in beekeeping. The reasons are In

varied. Some are the result of their already large workload, which leaves little time for extra

activities. Women are responsible for family and child care, which include such diverse and

has charted a strategy to mainstream gender in beekeeping development activities.

The main steps are: @the conceptualisation of gender roles in beekeeping development; @training and capacity building of project staff

income-generating activities as well, both traditional and new. Where women have come

time-consuming tasks as collecting water, cooking, cleaning, and looking after babies,

and partners in gender mainstreaming; @incorporation of gender issues and roles in

into contact with modern benefits, they are concerned to get cash income so they can send

as well as for a range of time-consuming

beekeeping training curricula; @training of women in beekeeping management, and processing and marketing of bee products; @encouragement of equal participation of women

their children to school. Taken together, these changes mean that women’s workload overall is

agricultural operations, including sowing, harvesting, a wide variety of processing activities, and caring for animals. In some areas there are

increasing rather than decreasing, and that the time saved through the introduction of services like water points and electricity is often used

more specific restrictions resulting from the fact that women are not allowed to touch bee colonies

when they are pregnant, and shortly thereafter, or during menstruation. One important constraint,

of women in mountain

to perform new tasks. '

|

at all levels of beekeeping development interventions.

So far, 212 women farmers have been trained in the fields of bee management, queen rearing, and pollination, and processing and marketing of bee products. The project encourages women beekeepers to participate at all stages of

beekeeping activities: from planning, through implementation, to monitoring and evaluation.

This strategy has been found to be very fruitful, with a clear impact observed on the attitudes and behaviour of programme staff, partners, and beekeepers. Women’s participation in beekeeping activities has increased at all the project's sites,

indicating a weakening of the impacts of taboos and beliefs. Participation of women beekeepers in the action research-based selection programme is increasing. Trained women beekeepers are confident and proactive in addressing and resolving their local problems and difficulties.

In this way beekeeping is becoming a focal point for wider developmental interventions, particularly to remote mountain communities.

et »

Hands-on training for women in bee management A Bees for Development publication

We hope that a continued focus on women, and on education on gender issues, in our programme will further deepen and extend these positive developments.

:

4

CHILE

Bolivia is a landlocked country in the middle of South America. The majority of the population used to live in the Andean altiplano but with closure of silver and tin mines the tropical sector -is now the fastest growing region. There are large, wild parklands set aside with debt-for‘nature monies for natural resource conservation offering a great potential for beekeeping. considered an Andes country but two thirds of the geography is tropical. There are three major climatic types.

1s

foulbrood has not been imported into the country. Varroa mites are present but few beekeepers have had to use control measures, as the numbers of mites remain low and not destructive.

SIZE

HONEYBEE PRODUCTS

1,100,000 km’

inhabitants each, one in each region: La Paz the world’s highest capital at 3600 m, Cochabamba, a front range city in a large intermountain valley at 2560 m, and Santa Cruz (420 m) the largest city and most rapidly growing region in the Bolivian tropics

AGRICULTURE little exportation of agricultural goods with most farming at subsistence level The tropical region has large cattle growing ranches and some culttvation of

There

1s

cotton, rice, soya beans and sunflowers Coca Is grown legally for consumption of the whole leaves for altitude endurance by higher elevation inhabitants Leaves are smuggled to Colombia and Peru with some processing into coca paste for international cocaine markets In the

Highlands grains and potatoes are grown, and ‘lama (and relatives) and sheep plus chinchilla are kept.

HONEYBEES Early imports of European Apis meliifera were from Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Africanised honeybees Apis mellifera scutellata arrived in the tropical lowlands in 1967 and have spread throughout the entire country Bees at higher elevations are more manageable than those in tropical regions. Swarms and feral colonies are more common in the humid tropical regions than in the dryer southern grasslands and Intermountain valleys of the Andes. There are few bees at higher elevations of the

Andes Mountains

MELLIFEROUS VEGETATION The tropical region and front mountain range of the Andes are extremely varied in the flora available for bees that forage throughout the year There is some sunflower pollination by bees with the potential for their loss due to pesticide poisoning Intermountain valleys have an extremely short 2-3 month flowering season of varied flora

(introduced weeds and indigenous varieties) when the rains manage to get over the mountains In the 1980s

4

Non-Africanised queens do poorly alongside Africanised queens and therefore the importation of queens mentioned above has largely ceased Luckily (so far) Amencan

wet The high mountain valleys of the western slope are subtropical to temperate (depending upon altitude) with a short intense spring when the rains reach over the mountains

POPULATION

oN

HONEYBEE DISEASES AND PESTS

on the north and

extremely wet and humid The south, bordering Paraguay and Argentina, is drier grasslands (//ano) In between, the eastern frontal range of the Andes 1s extremely 1s

6.5 million with three major cities over one million

ARGENTINA

|

to Bolivia.

country bordering western Argentina, Chile and Peru is very high and dry much of the year with permanent snow above

5000 m. The tropical region borders Brazil

“S

a

The Andes mountain aitiplano of the western third of the

east and

PARAGUAY |

connecting North Carolina beekeepers with those in Cochabamba Florida beekeepers supported the Santa Cruz beekeepers for number of years shipping Florida reared queens and sending Langstroth bee equipment

CLIMATE Bolivia

*.

Beekeepers in the tropical regions around Santa Cruz manage 1000-2000 colonies (before Africanisation this number exceeded 5000 colonies) with an active beekeepers’ association that conducts a honey festival each year. There are large numbers of beekeepers keeping small numbers of colontes in the rest of the tropical region and in the two coca growing regions of the front range of the Andes (Chapare region between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba and Yungas region between tropical north Bolivia and La Paz). From 4000-5000 colonies are in Cochabamba valley and smaller numbers in other high valleys (such as Mizque) are kept in both Langstroth and local hives. About 1500 colonies migrate from Cochabamba to Chapare at the end of the flowering season in the high valleys. There are very few feral or managed colonies in La Paz or the altiplano region

BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

Several companies in Cochabamba and La Paz export pollen and other bee products of medicinal value to Asia: these products remain free of major pollutant chernicals found in other countries. Honey consumption within Bolivia IS quite low and markets have been relatively easy to develop for quality products There Is strong competition from bee products produced in Argentina and Brazil.

TRAINING Beekeeping ts taught at Universities in Cochabamba and Santa Cruz. Development projects often employ a technician who helps beekeepers participating in the project and who manages the central honey extracting facility The author describes this type of project for the Mizque valley in Reference 3 Two manuals are available for beginners (references

1

and 2)

Information and illustiations provided

by Dewey M Curot

Equipment supplies are mostly imported although Langstroth hives and frames are made in Santa Cruz and Cochabamba Foundation Is imported from Brazil since the bees need the smaller Africanised bee size cell bases

BEEKEEPING PROJECTS A number of foreign agencies including CIDA (Canada), EU agencies for example GTZ (Germany), FAO and USAID currently have beekeeping development projects in Bolivia Bolivia ts the largest American continent recipient of USA foreign aid and there is a major Alternatives Programme designed to train campesinos (subsistence farmers) to abandon coca cultivation and cultivate alternatives beekeeping ts an alternative component! EU and FAO funding also supports this approach. Most of the projects are in the Chapare and Yungas regions There are several NGOs working with communities throughout the country with active beekeeping projects Japanese and US Peace Corps and Caritas, the Catholic Church Development Agency, support small but active projects Farmer-to-Farmer (USA) supports a beekeeping project In Cochabamba

ak ain, mK

Professor of Botany Noel Kempff Mercardo prepared a ‘floral guide and annual management scheme based on flowenng in the tropical areas before he was accidentally killed when he wandered too close to a jungle cocaine ‘factory’ whilst looking for bee flora There 1s a large National Park dedicated to his memory in remote tropical

eastern Bolivia along the border with Brazil

BEEKEEPING As the number of swarms and feral colonies has

A Bees for Development publication

8

Increased following Africanisation, honey hunting and harvesting of bee trees and local hives has been Increasing, especially in rural areas

Beekeeping & Development 62

LOOK AHEAD BRAZIL XIV Brazilian Apicultural Congress

SLOVENIA XXXVI APIMONDIA

16-20 July 2002, Campo Grande

Congress

Further details from: www.congressodeapicultura.com.br

24-29 August 2003, Ljubljana Further details from:

GERMANY

Fax

APIMONDIA Symposium:

www.apimondia2003.com

Prevention of

residues in honey

mn

ay

att

et

hae?

UNITED KINGDOM

E-mail info@bieneninstitut.de

ITALY

Further details from- BBKA, NAC, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ

Villth International Symposium on Hazards

E-mail bbka@bbka.demon.co.uk

of Pesticides to Bees

[Visit the Bees for Development / Troy Trust stand]

4-6 September 2002, Bologna

Sixth European Bee Conference

Further details from: Dr Claudio Porrini,

+39 (0)51 251052

E-mail cporrint@entom agrsci.unibo.it

1-5 July 2002, Cardiff

USA Eastern Apicultural Society Annual Meeting

Third Caribbean Beekeeping Congress

5-9 August 2002, Cornell University Further details from: www.easternapiculture.org

16-20 September 2002, Ocho Rios Further details on page 16

JAPAN

LEARN AHEAD

XIV International Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social insects (IUSSI)

ARGENTINA

28 July

Control de Calidad de Miel, Propdleos y Cera

3 August 2002, Sapporo

Further details from: Professor Seigo Higashi, Hokkaido University

(+81) 11706 4867

www.coop.hokudai.ac.jp/gakkai/iussi2Z002/

KENYA First PROTA International Workshop

23-25 September 2002, Nairobi Further details from: Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) www. prota.org

NETHERLANDS Forest valuation and innovative financing mechanisms for conservation and sustainable

management of tropical forests

(Quality control of honey, propolis and beeswax)

13-17 May 2002, Santiago del Estero Further detatls from: Dr José F Maidana E-mail cedia@unse.edu.ar

KENYA Short Courses 14-20 April, 21-27 July and 3-9 November 2002, Molo Further details from: Baraka College Beekeeping Development Unit Fax

(+254) 363 21100

E-mail baraka@net2000ke.com

and Marketing Bee Products Processing

www.tropenbos.nl

Crop Pollination and Beekeeping 6-10 May 2002, Minna

RUSSIA Intermiod 2001 3rd Exhibition and Conference

Further details from: Honeycomb Products Research & Technology Development Centre

on Beekeeping

E-mail honeycom@skannet.com.

E-mail expostroy@expostroy.ru

If you want notice of your conference, workshop or meeting to be included here send details to: Bees for Development, Troy, Monmouth,

NP25 4AB, UK Fax E-mail!

+44 (0)16007 16167 busy@planbee.org.uk

NIGERIA

20-21 March 2002, The Hague Further details from: Tropenbos International

11-15 September 2002, Moscow Further details from Exhibition Complex, PO Box 63, 117218 Moscow

iesae

Further details from: IBRA_ www.ibra.org.uk

JAMAICA

Fax

at ify Bo

(+386) 1251 7431

British Beekeepers’ Association Convention 27th April 2002, Stoneleigh

Further details from: Dr Werner von der Ohe

—

eit ey sens ee si rate ha Ha isi ret,

Mr Gorazd Cad, Cultural and Congress Centre

10-11 October 2002, Celle

Fax

te

International Apicultural

1-12 April 2002, Minna

UNITED KINGDOM/TANZANIA Beekeeping in Rural Development Training Course Cardiff University and Njiro Wildlife Research Centre

Further details from: Bees for Development

A Bees for Development publication

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE Advertising in B&D offers excellent vaiue for money: reaching readers tn over 100 countries and supporting the valuable work of Bees for Development.

Advertisements: quarter page, two-colour costs 65; a full page 200.

Other sizes available. Please request rates from our address above.

Enclosures: 50 per kilogram for insertion and distribution of flyers.

Notice Board items: 0.50 per word with a minimum entry of 5 (prices are subject to VAT in EU countries).

STRENGTHENING LIVELIHOODS

Chapter 4 by Catherine Butcher, a freelance consultant in natural resource management and social development, provides examples of traditional extension projects focused on information delivery to beneficiaries rather than necessarily on beekeeper needs or capabilities. She believes that such projects have ‘had a disappointing impact on beekeeping development’ in part due to use of inappropriate technology, poor extension approaches, inadequate project design and support from organisations/ institutions that had perceptions/objectives too different from the people they were trying to reach and influence. Ole Hertz (Chapter 9), a social anthropologist and beekeeper from Denmark provides a compelling example of how beekeeping extension can interface with knowledge and practice parts of Africa where beekeeping is strongly influenced by people’s ‘traditions and beliefs, which may include magic, religion and myth.’ Alberto Arce (Chapter 10), a developmental sociologist from In

University of Wageningen in The Netherlands, provides an example from Mali whereby knowledge of magic was not well incorporated into project design and implementation with the result that social conflict that resulted interfered with overall

2002 128 pages Paperback

project objectives and success.

Available from Bees for Development price 22.00

In September 2000 the International Symposium on Sustainable Livelihoods: exploring the role of beekeeping in development brought together 50 beekeeping development specialists, other

approach does, then beekeeping has a larger, more significant opportunity for inclusion in meaningful development projects for the future.

export of honey from rural producers in remote areas of Zambia has continued even ten years after the donor

agency stopped funding. Local beekeepers remain involved in making decisions of importance such as prices for their honey resulting in ‘increased honey production...motivation and a sense of equality.’

Several chapters discuss the difficulty of informed decisions on what groups to include, or exclude, from projects. In Chapter 12 Svensson questions how projects that donors specify must be target specific (he uses women-targeted projects as examples) can truly be successful as only some

components of beekeeping might be more appropriate for women. In Chapter 11, Mary Ann Brocklesby, a rural development and planning specialist at the University of Wales Swansea, provides an analysis of Cameroon project that did not achieve desired success because it in part ‘categorised women as a homogeneous group’ and did not recognise how different fernale groups might better be able contribute to the project.

how a watershed development project was re-oriented to take on a livelihoods approach in Andhra Pradesh, India. Although no beekeeping was involved the author makes several observations of the time needed in planning so all stakeholders have

adequate input into and understanding of project expectations. Chapter 14, by Pratim Roy, a co-founder of the NGO The Keystone Foundation, reports that the Foundation has discovered that honey hunters (with whom The Foundation does a lot of work) can serve as means to gain access (‘entry point’) and build confidence with local peoples.

He cautions that development projects will always take time to develop and demonstrate success, something donors do not always appreciate.

Introductory Chapter ties the different presentations together and details how they all can fit a sustainable livelinoods approach, and ends with some final comments on how a sustainable livelihoods adoption might positively influence future beekeeping

numbers of people, numerous institutions, a complex array of goods and services and an imperative to -meet large budgetary targets’. If evaluation is on improvement of people's lives and economic stability rather than counting the increase in number of hives or people trained in beekeeping skills, as a livelihood

intensive project without the need for a large capital outlay. In Chapter 8, David Wainwright, a director of Tropical Forest Products in the UK describes how

Janet Seeley,

The outcome is this publication that includes 14 presentations from the Symposium edited by Nicola Bradbear and Helen Jackson of Bees for Development, along with Eleanor Fisher, Research Officer at the Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales Swansea. The excellent

development’. With its ‘people-centred’ perspective drawing on human and social capital and a focus on the rights and obligations of people to their local resources, she demonstrates how a sustainable livelihoods approach might better fit current development planning and policy that ‘involves large

In rural communities beekeeping is not a minor enterprise or hobby but can contribute significantly to family livelihoods. It fits well as a smaller, labour-

Two Chapters focus on projects in Asia. In Chapter 13, a lecturer in the School of Development Studies at University of East Anglia, UK, examines

development scientists and social scientists from 14 countries to both examine the process and structure of development while focusing on case studies of successful (and less than successful) beekeeping projects from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

Chapters 2 by Nicola and 3 by Eleanor speak to the sustainable livelihoods model (presented in detail in Chapter 2) and how it might help elevate beekeeping projects to a more ‘prominent position within rural

case-in-point for a project in Saudi Arabia in which resources were not limiting (as is often the case in African projects) but which still failed due to poor acceptance by the targeted population.

a

Order code B480

development initiatives.

be transferred from one context to another’ providing a

Chapter 5 by Barje Svensson amply illustrates examples of extension failures in several projects he has witnessed in 25 years of beekeeping consultancies and research. He provides examples of inappropriate training of students in his (native) Sweden and Canada and of projects carried out in Bangladesh, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania. He argues that ‘...smaller....realistic ....flexible’ projects where beekeepers can draw on their experience to reach hoped-for monetary rewards, are more likely to succeed.

The introductory chapter explains ‘the use of case studies and the sharing of experiences... an important part of a sustainable livelihoods approach’. Chapter 5, the next two chapters

by Liana Hassan (Tanzania) and Tilahun Gebey from Ethiopia, and Chapter 12 by Svensson on targeting women for a beekeeping development project in Tanzania, provide such case studies. However Svensson cautions that ‘experiences should not

Chapter 15 by Gladstone Solomon, a commercial beekeeper in Tobago, provides information on how macro-level information can be useful to development projects at the micro-level using the Caribbean Islands as an example. Success is not necessarily related just to producing products but in the assistance governmental/non-governmental agencies can provide as well.

As the Introductory Chapter explains, all the projects mentioned in this publication ‘aspire’ to the goal of greater sustainability. A sustainable livelihoods approach ‘may contribute to beekeeping projects providing a framework to link concern about environmental and agro-ecological sustainability, to economic, institutional, human and socia} sustainability’. highly recommend this book if you wish to continue developmental activities: it has_... much to offer and will be as good a re-read after |

initial reading.

Review by Dewey M Caron

A Bees for Development publication

®

Beekeeping & Development 62

mBOOKS ELF -

The MAPPS (Marketing Assistance & Product Promotion) guide to keeping bees in Somalia

Bees and crop pollination crisis, crossroads, conservation

Progressive Interventions

edited by Constance S Stubbs and Francis

2001 63 pages Paperback Available from Bees for Development price on application Order code P210

nauaros

PROCEEDINGS Bees and Crop Pollination-

This richly illustrated spiral bound notebook is written to assist existing

Crisis, Crossroads, Conservation

beekeepers to improve and expand production and encourage new

Constance $ Stubbs Francis &. rammond

APB

ts

plemented by

na supported by

Suarata

Ue

EL

Entomological Society of America, Thomas Say Publications, Lanham, MD, USA.

43.75 (postage extra)

With fully 70% of the 1000 major cultivated worldwide crops insect pollinated, the physical/chemical fragmentation of habitats has

English and Somali editions, the manual will be of use to any group working with beekeepers in East Africa.

Sections included are: basics of bee biology; getting started (local hives are

en

Drummond

2001 156 pages Paperback Available from

Price US$

beekeepers. Although written for Somali beekeepers and beekeeping groups (with their input) and available in both guide to keeping bees in Somalia

A

accelerated a crisis in decline of

abundance and species richness of bees and other pollinators. Diseases, mites, insecticide poisoning, Africanisation in the Americas and economic instability of honey markets have specifically

promoted and information on top-bar hives is included), the beekeeping year; honey harvesting; marketing of bee products; and two especially useful sections - starting a beekeeping

threatened honeybees, the most important insect of planned pollination situations. Beyond describing the crises, this paperback, a result of an

enterprise, and advice for promoting beekeeping in developing countries (Somalia included). The text is non-technical and very readable with good illustrations (a cartoon bee helps break up text to provide each page with

Entomological Society of America Symposium, seeks to describe the crossroads we need for a more sustainable approach towards crop pollination and issues of conservation of bee species to ensure plant

an attractive appearance) and basic common-sense recommendations.

biodiversity preservation.

Workshop on alternative techniques in queen and hive production for Apis cerana indica

Chapters are by Peter Kevan (University of Guelph, Canada) on ecosystem health for pollinators, Bernd Heinrich and Gabriela Chavarria (University of Vermont) on bumblebees, Suzanne T Batra (retired from USDA, Beltsville) on pollen bees, the editors (University of Maine) on mason bees and vitality

Paini Hills Conservation Council Workshup un alternetive teubalyies io queen and hive production for cerane Indica Proceedings of aa in!eroational workshop at Shenbagasar - 18th to 22nd February - 2900

2000 47 pages Paperback Available from Bees for Development

gis

MI

price 15.65

Order code P110

in February 2000 was co-sponsored by the Palni Hills Conservation Council and The Danish

The Workshop

Beekeeping Federation. These Proceedings include nine of the presentations.

Very useful are sections on the Jensen method of queen rearing (as described in B&D 55) and the Mulderry hive

Apis cerana) both by Danish beekeeper Mogens Jensen, information on Palni Hills and Apis cerana beekeeping, (Gor

ORSERVATION COUNCIL

and Bees and Biodiversity by Pandurang Hegde of Karnataka, India.

There are colour photographs of queen rearing and Mulderry hive making.

of the Maine lowbush blueberry ecosystem and Dewey M Caron (University of Delaware) on Africanisation of the Neotropics. An appendix to this last

chapter summarises pollination requirements of important tropical crops of the Americas building on the FAO Bulletin #118, Pollination of cultivated plants in the tropics (edited by David Roubik) reviewed in B&D 38 and

available from Bees for Development price 24.10

(code R510).

Pollination with mason bees: a gardener’s guide to managing mason bees for fruit production Margriet Dogterom

Pollination with

son

Bees

2002 80 pages Paperback Available from Bees for Development Order code D125 price 13 As described above, we may anticipate that other species of bees will be increasingly utilised for pollination purposes.

This new book describes the mason bees

Some honeybee plants of Bas-Congo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

widespread in North America, Osmia lignaria. How to identify them, create several different types of nesting

Paul Latham Paul Latham has revised his book Beekeeping in Bas Congo into this new title that includes more species of piants found throughout the humid tropical regions of Africa. There are colour photographs on almost all of

places for them (drilled wood, cardboard straws, paper straws etc), nest placement, storing cocoons over the

the 100 pages.

winter, and every other aspect of caring for and encouraging populations of

Availabie from Bees for Development Order code L115 price 48.40

®

mason bees in your garden.

A Bees for Development publication

Beekeeping & Development 62

OOKSE

Essence and mechanism of nest abandonment by honeybee swarms

Arboles meliferos nativos de Mesoamérica

Zbigniew Lipinski

Alberto Ortiz, Johan W van Veen and Marinus

Henry G Arce, Luis A Sanchez, Judith Slaa, Pablo E Sanchez-Vindas,

2001 293 pages Hardback ESSENCE ANO MECHANISM OF NEST ARANDONMENT

BY HONEY ONS RIMS ED

2001 208 pages Paperback In Spanish Available from PRAM, AP 475-3000,

Text in English translated by the author from the original Polish

Heredia, Costa Rica

Available from Bees for Development Order code L350 price 31.20

price on request WY Se ak Seah

This gold medal winning book from the

dat

This magnificent paperback has

ST

Mery cane sul

des

64 colour photographs (flowers and/or frut plus the tree structure) of major

2001 Apimondia Congress, Durban explains the author’s hypothesis on why bees swarm. He feels that stress is a

ZBIGNIEW LIPINSKE

native trees of benefit to bees.

It was produced by Programa Regional de Apicultura y Meliponicultura, PRAM

stimulus for young bees that we see in the behaviour of clustering, whether within

(see B&D 59 page 8). Text for each plant covered includes a description, ecological usefulness, benefit to bees

the hive, at the entrance or in swarming/ absconding/nest abandonment.

The swarming mood intensity results from progressive queen substance deficiency and stressors, especially acting on young bees. The stress reaction reversible. He documents the extensive literature on swarming (62 pages of

J Sommeijer

|s

references) to explain his theory of how stress is so vital to clustering.

Major points made by the author are: @ We should protect bees from the action of stress stimuli; @ We need to keep young honeybee queens In hives for their potent

(Apis mellifera and indigenous stingless bees), flowering pertod, uses of the species, abundance, distribution (mainly in Costa Rica) and method of reproduction Scientific and common names of the species are included.

Introductory chapters cover bee diversity, pollination ecology and a chapter on how vitally important pollinator protection ts for forest conservation

tranquillising effect on bees; @ We must keep reserves of indigenous bees because they have the genes for bees to respond to stimuli typical of their environment (such as stress

that leads to swarming).

Figures following the text graphically illustrate his theory and

22 photographs (including one of the author wearing a bee beard) show clustering. All in all it is a well-presented argument for his theory of why bees swarm, abscond and abandon their nests and how concentrating on cluster behaviour can help interpret their response.

Enfermedades de las abejas Wolfgang Ritter

ENFERMEDADES DE LAS ABEJAS

2001 146 pages Paperback in Spanish translated by Jaime Escobar from the 1996 original German edition Bienenkrankherten Available from Bees for Development Order code R220 price 19.30

This publication is not a literal translation of the onginal book by the author. It has been streamlined and information on

European laws related to disease left out.

Unfortunately the section of regulations of diseases in Spanish countries is not

adequately substituted — it is only two pages in length. Like the original, the text EDITORIAL ACRIBIA SA. is richly tllustrated with attractive black and white drawings and illustrations. The addition of numerous colour photographs makes this a more attractive and practical book. The text provides

ete af

Shar

Hie

risers

heyy

ot

excellent, up-to-date coverage of bee diseases.

The book is organised as five major chapters namely: diseases of the brood, diseases of the adult, poisoning of bees, abnormalities, and pests. Varroa mites are covered as a brood illness and tracheal mite are included in the

chapter on adult diseases. There are also short chapters on bee biology, colony life, and prevention, discovery and control of diseases. In suspect situations, the advice given is to consult a veterinarian after taking samples.

A Bees for Development publication

®

16 20 SEPTEMBER 2002 —

Jamaica Grande Hotel Gcne i108 Jamaica Organised by The Ministry of Agriculture and Jamaican Bee Farmers’ Association in collaboration with The Eastern Jamaica Agricultural Support Project and

Agricultural Support Services Project. Your participation is welcomed.

CONFERENCE THEME The theme of the Congress is BEEKEEPING: STRATEGIES FOR REAPING SWEET SUCCESS With the growing interest in natural and health products, there has been renewed demand for honey and honey products. In addition, the wider agricultural sector depends on bees and places much value on their pollination of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and other seed producing crops. Despite the commendable achievements to date, the potential of the industry remains unfulfilled. This Congress will bring together beekeepers throughout the region as well as from other countries, to share experiences and discuss avenues for overcoming difficulties in the industry. The Congress will also provide an update of advances in all aspects of apiculture, and develop strategies for reaping sweet success from this indusiry.

The Congress Registration Fee is US$300.

This includes: Congress admission, Congress papers, Congress field trip, Congress reception as well as lunch plus morning and afternoon coffee/tea for the five days of the Congress.

ENQUIRIES Dr Joseph Lindsay

Principal Research Director Research and Development Division

Ministry of Agriculture Bodles Research Station Old Harbour PO

St Catherine Jamaica

(+876) 983 2267 (+876) 983 2822

Tel

Fax

E-mail jlindsay@mail.com

Mrs Marva Allen-Simms and

CONGRESS TOPICS @ Status of beekeeping in the Caribbean @ Rural development through beekeeping ® Application of technology to the beekeeping industry @ Local and international law governing beekeeping

Mrs Paulette Lyons-Dodd Ministry of Agriculture

Hope Gardens Kingston 6

Jamaica

@

Apitherapy Economics of beekeeping @ Pollination contribution to agriculture Keynote speakers will include researchers, producers and suppliers of technology for beekeeping.

There will be poster exhibitions, country reports presenting happenings in beekeeping since the Second Caribbean Congress in 2000, and two field trips to showcase local beekeeping activities. @

Participants are anticipated from around the globe, in addition to the local Caribbean network of beekeepers, researchers and interested members of the public.

E-mail mdsimms@mao.gov.jm; pdodd@moa.gov.hm

Registration and requests for Congress Second Announcement Mr Reginald Peddy Bodles Research Station

Ministry of Agriculture Old Harbour

St Catherine Jamaica

(+876) 983 2276 (+876) 983 2822

Tel

ACCOMMODATION

Fax

Jamaica's climate is tropical and warm all year round.

The average daytime temperature is 29°C.

E-mail bodlesbees@cwjamaica.com Web

~—

www.moa.gov.jm/bee/congress

Details of accommodation in close proximity to the Grande Hotel will be included in the Second Announcement.

Ann's

st Bay ne

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Beekeeping & Development is published quarterly by Bees for Development, Troy, Monmouth, NP25 4AB, UK Telephone +44 (0) 16007 13648 Fax +44 (0) 16007 16167 E-mail busy@planbee.org.uk Web www.planbee.org.uk Printed on enviranmentally friendly paper.

ISSN 1369 9555

Bees for Development 2002