Bees for Development Journal Edition 95 - June 2010

ISSUE NO 95, JUNE 2010

HAITI SUPPORT CARIBBEAN UPDATE BEE-FRIENDLY BEEKEEPING WWW.BEESFORDEVELOPMENT.ORG

COVER PHOTO © BO STERK

Beesfor Development Journal 95

Dear friends

Haiti is a Caribbean nation of 9 million people, sharing the island of Hispaniola with neighbouring Dominican Republic. According to United Nations data, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. On 12 January this year, Haiti suffered a catastrophic earthquake of magnitude 7.0, with the epicentre in the most populated part of the country, 25 km (16 miles) west of the capital city Port-au-Prince. Around 100,000 people lost their lives, while countless more were made homeless.

Our cover picture shows bee hives made from the hollow trunks of palm trees, and this is the way that beekeepers house their bees in Haiti. They have been successfully keeping bees this way for a long time, perhaps since Spanish or French explorers first introduced bees 500 years ago. Today, Haiti’s bee populations are apparently healthy, with empty hives readily occupied by bees from the wild honey bee population. You can read more about them on page 10.

Hives in Haiti made from the hollow trunks of palm trees

ISSUE No 95 June 2010 In this issue

page

Bee-friendly beekeeping.....................3

The importance of honey production on livelihoods ..................6 White honey.......................................7

Local style and top-bar hives in Uganda ..........................................8 EU biodiversity to 2020......................9

Many people have expressed interest to send support to Haiti’s beekeepers, and we are pleased to join forces with Apimondia, the World Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations, to appeal for your support. Any funds that you can give will be sent direct to beekeepers in Haiti, to support them as they rebuild their lives. Please donate at this website: http://www.justgiving.com/Haitibeekeepers

Natural beekeeping

On page 3, David Heaf begins his two part explanation of bee-friendly beekeeping using the Warré hive. Astute readers will notice the great similarity between this hive, and the Japanese ‘box pile hive’ for keeping Apis cerana that was described in our previous edition. In fact, the fundamental concept on which Warré based his hive was not new and Abbé Warré himself acknowledged this: people in France, Germany, Russia, Sweden and UK had already developed hives along similar principles. Perhaps John Gedde was first, publishing a book in 1677 that described a frame hive, comprising a stack of boxes that could be extended by nadiring, i.e. adding new boxes underneath.

The top of each box was covered except for a 100 mm square hole in the cover for passage of bees from one box to the next.

If after reading David Heaf’s article you feel encouraged to try Warré beekeeping, do let us know how you get on.

Caribbean round up..........................10 © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/PAWEL GAUL

News around the World ....................12 Letter................................................15 Notice Board ....................................15

Bookshelf.........................................16 Look Ahead ......................................18 Learn Ahead .....................................19 New resources .................................20

BfD Journal

Published quarterly by Bees for Development and distributed to readers in over 130 countries Editor Nicola Bradbear PhD Co-ordinator Helen Jackson BSc Bf D Trust Membership includes BfD Journal at no extra cost.

Readers in developing countries can apply for a sponsored subscription. See page 19

Bees for Development Post

PO Box 105 Monmouth NP25 9AA, UK Phone +44 (0)16007 13648 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org

Haiti forms the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola SUPPORT: Bees for Development Trust acknowledge: Panta Rhea Foundation, Rowse Family Trust, Synchronicity Foundation, E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd and the many beekeeping groups and individuals who support our work. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to help.

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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING

Bees for Development Journal 95

SUSTAINABLE BEE-FRIENDLY BEEKEEPING – Part 1 David Heaf, Hafan, Cae Llwyd, Llanystumdwy, Cricieth, Gwynedd LL52 0SG, UK Keywords: bee disease, European beekeeping, frame hive, nadiring, propolis, skep, Warré hive

The most important advantage of Warré's hive is that it retains the bees’ nest warmth and atmosphere at all times - except for a few minutes once a year when the honey harvest is taken off. Bees maintain a nest temperature close to that of the human body. Under the roof of a Warré hive is an insulating 'quilt' filled with straw or wood shavings, and below that is a cloth that the bees stick down firmly with propolis, a resin gathered from tree buds, which Apis mellifera honey bees use as their draught excluder.

PHOTO © THORNE.CO.UK

In the last few years in the USA and Europe there have been unusually high losses of honey bee colonies. Likely causes include pesticides and exotic diseases. However, few ask whether modern artificial beekeeping is partly responsible for the losses. In this two-part article I present a way of natural beekeeping that will suit anyone with even very basic woodworking skills and access to a small garden, city roof, or any tiny plot of land that is reasonably secluded.

In Europe bees used to be kept in skeps – inverted baskets – which resemble the hollow tree that is the natural nesting place of honey bees. Over the course of the last century in the UK, skeps were replaced almost completely by hives containing wooden frames. At the same time, it became necessary for governments to set up bee disease inspection bureaucracies.

Skep Beekeepers who witnessed this transition in beekeeping associated the rise in bee epidemics with the introduction of frames and associated practices. Among them was Abbé Emile Warré (1867-1951) whose book Beekeeping for all (in French) ran to 12 editions.

Warré showed how to make and run the hive he developed that includes many of the bee-friendly attributes of the skep, without resorting to beeunfriendly frames, or killing bees to harvest honey. He invented the People's hive, so easy to make and run that it could make beekeeping as commonplace as it used to be in the late 19th Century.

Chilling brood while inspecting a frame

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS © DAVID HEAF UNLESS STATED

In contrast, a frame hive is regularly opened at the top thus chilling the hive and annoying the bees. The frames, which are supposed to be movable, are welded tight with propolis which repeatedly has to be scraped away. Non-interventionist Warré hive beekeeping results in more docile bees.

Propolis sticks frame hive parts together

Warré hives are frameless, but have 'top-bars' at the top of each box on which the bees build natural honeycomb. Without frames they can fill the whole cavity width with combs, fixing them in the natural way to its sides, thus creating inverted pockets of warm air where the work of rearing the young takes place. Frames cause draughty gaps round the edges letting out heat. The bees then have to work harder to replace the lost heat, and are consequently more stressed, more disease prone, and use up more of their hard won honey.

The Warré hive 3

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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING

Frame beekeepers also use foundation in their frames, thinking they are saving work for the bees. These sheets of recycled beeswax, which often contain pesticide traces, are embossed with an hexagonal pattern that predetermines the size of the honeycomb cells.

Natural comb in a Warré hive

After filling the top box with comb, brood, pollen and honey, the nest moves to the top-bars of the one below, and so on. Empty boxes are added always at the bottom (nadiring) without letting out the warm air, trapped as in a hot air balloon. Usually four boxes are needed in a season but as many as seven have sometimes been required. They sit on a simple wooden floor with a notch for the entrance and an alighting board. The floor rests on any kind of improvised stand.

Frame with foundation

Natural comb, as in a Warré hive, has cell sizes that the bees themselves choose, and they construct the comb as they do in nature, that is, not starting on a wax sheet. This removes another artificial stressor as a colony instinctively determines how many drones (males), to rear in the larger cells that they occupy. A natural colony even varies the cell size of worker brood. The biology of this is subtle and as yet little understood.

Warré hive entrance traffic

In contrast, frame hive beekeepers add honey boxes (supers) on top of the hive, thus letting out the heat each time. And to stop the queen from going into these honey boxes to lay eggs, a 'queen excluder', a metal or plastic grid, is inserted through which only the worker bees can pass as they are smaller. In a natural honey bee nest the queen's access to all parts of the comb is unrestricted.

View of comb through a Warré hive with a window

Like frame hives, a Warré hive is a stack of wooden boxes. The box internal dimensions match the size of a bee swarm or cluster, and more closely approximate to hollow tree proportions by being taller and narrower than heat-dissipating frame hives. Install a swarm in a Warré hive and it starts building comb from the top down.

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Queen excluder for frame hive beekeeping

PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING If we switch from frame hive to Warré hive beekeeping, we have to take a smaller crop of honey than we are used to with frames. The main reason is that the bees should winter on their own honey. This ends the practice of robbing colonies of most of their valuable nutritional reserves, while replacing them with sugar syrup, which lacks the minerals, nutrients and other bee health-promoting substances in honey. If Warré beekeepers have to feed their bees, say after a wet summer or when settling-in a new swarm, they do so with their own honey. Only as a last resort, to prevent colony starvation, do they turn to refined sugar.

Another reason for the smaller honey crop is that supering a brood nest gives the colony an unnatural, powerful stimulus to fill the empty space that suddenly appears above it, whereas with nadiring, no such stimulus exists.

To harvest a Warré hive, the top box is removed in the autumn, checked to ensure it has no brood, and taken indoors to crush the comb and drain its honey. There is no need for expensive centrifugal extractors, thus further lowering the ecological footprint of this beekeeping method. Ordinary kitchen utensils, such as a strainer and bowls will suffice. If it has been a good season, then a second box of honey can be taken, provided it does not contain part of the brood nest and there are 12 kg of honey left in the remaining boxes for the overwintering bees. This figure applies to temperate climates like France. Further north, the reserve may need to be increased.

Bees for Development Journal 95

PHOTO © STEVE HAM

is an essential part of the natural reproductive cycle of a honey bee colony. Suppressing swarming risks gradual weakening of the genetic stock of the bees. A Warré hive beekeeper aims to work with the power of the swarm and does not use artificially bred queens. We shall see in Part 2 (BfDJ 96) to what extent this is possible.

Running a swarm into a Warré hive

PHOTO © MARC GATINEAU

As for monitoring disease, as already indicated, frames and the excessive interventions that go with them cause physiological and psychological – yes, bees have minds! – stress for the colony. Stressed organisms are usually more prone to disease. Bees like seclusion. Opening up their home and moving their furniture about every week, as is common practice, goes against their nature. Stop using frames and thereby reduce the need to monitor disease. We shall cover how Warré beekeepers deal with the ubiquitous Varroa mite in Part 2 (BfDJ 96), which will describe how to make and run a Warré hive. Sources for more information, including an e-group in which to ask questions, are listed below.

Honey harvest from a Warré box

Another important feature of the Warré hive’s geometry is that the winter stores are situated above the bee cluster which has a compact football or rugby ball outline, and over several months eats its way upwards into the honey. In contrast, frame hives are broader, flatter, and it can happen that the cluster eats its way to the top and, in a cold snap, the benumbed bees cannot travel sideways on to the hard-to-reach honey frames at the edges.

Consequently they die even though the box contains ample food.

In spring in the UK, late March or early April, one or more boxes, new or emptied at last year's harvest, are placed underneath the colony. The colony expands down into these and the boxes at the top become the honey harvest later the same year. Thus, there is a constant renewal of comb in a Warré hive. This is important for maintaining the health of the bees and is rarely achieved in frame hives which sometimes are found with blackened combs at least five years old.

Frame beekeepers say they need comb in frames to control swarming and disease. The idea is that one can read the hive like a book to see if it is about to swarm or whether there are diseased larvae. However, swarming

Warré exhibition hive with an acrylic sheet ‘window’

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WARRÉ,E. (2010) Beekeeping for all. D.J. & P. A. Heaf (transl.). Northern Bee Books, Mytholmroyd, UK. See Bookshelf page 16 Warré beekeeping English web portal: http://warre.biobees.com English e-group: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/warrebeekeeping

Bees for Development Journal 95

THE IMPORTANCE OF HONEY PRODUCTION FOR LIVELIHOODS Worku Abebaw Asressie, Save the Children UK, PO Box 176, Woldiya, Ethiopia Keywords: Africa, Ethiopia, income generation, poverty alleviation, tej, white honey

generated 13 kg of honey while local style hives produced 5.5 kg. Annual honey harvest per household of 37.5 kg generates a mean annual income of US$77 (€58), and with larger producers earning up to US$486 (€366).

Honey production provides a sustainable income source requiring only low-cost investment and using the natural resource base. Most people (87.2%) sold their honey immediately after harvest to pay for family clothes, tax and other contributions including children’s schooling costs and food.

The survey revealed that the contribution of honey sales to livelihoods was substantial, on average providing 13% of household income. To put this into context, the sale of the honey crop provides enough money to buy almost 20% of the annual cereal consumption of a five-member household.

Some of the respondents have been so successful that they have constructed new houses or changed from huts with grass thatching, to iron sheet roofing. Thus their social status has also increased due to an increase of income. However, external support for hives, in the form of revolving loans or hive donations, is required if frame or top-bar hives are being promoted.

Honey production has long been an integral part of the subsistence economy of rural communities in Ethiopia. Traditional beekeeping is usually a complementary farming activity with diverse socio-economic importance. Ethiopia is the ninth highest honey producing country in the world, with a total production estimated at 44,000 tonnes valued at US$76.6 (€57.6) million (FAOSTAT, 2007) and is the largest producer and exporter of honey and beeswax in Africa. This means that bee products are very important as a source of foreign currency (MOARD, 2003)1.

Increasing honey production

Government attention in Ethiopia has focused on producing greater quantities of quality honey and improving marketing as part of the drive to increase GDP. This approach has become part of the national poverty reduction strategy, expected to contribute to increased household incomes and improved household food security (MOFED, 2002)2. Since 1984, beekeeping projects have been supported by the government and NGOs. As a result honey production has become an increasingly important income-generating business. Our study area3 is known for its abundant, naturally white honey known as Sekota Mar 4.This is a particularly drought prone area so the study endeavoured to quantify the role of honey production and beekeeping practices on the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers, and particularly in cushioning household incomes from natural shocks.

Ninety four households were surveyed, and our findings show that beekeeping plays a very significant role in the dietary, socio-cultural and economic life of rural people.

Uses of honey

Most honey is used for brewing tej, the popular Ethiopian drink often served in tej houses and at weddings. Women brew tej and selling it gives them a personal cash income as discussed by Bradbear (2003).

Nevertheless, there were concerns among tej consumers that these days sugar is replacing honey in tej.

Conclusion

Beekeeping projects have a positive impact towards achieving livelihood security among the poorest community members, while not negatively impacting other community members. Market-oriented activities like honey production are being integrated into the current productive safety net programme (PSNP5) which aims to assist resource-poor households.

These initiatives enable people to escape from abject poverty by diversifying their livelihoods, earning cash, and building assets. This is the first step for resource-poor people to break through dependency syndromes such as external food aid, and to develop confidence in their own efforts to move out of poverty.

Most significant survey results

PHOTO CREDIT © WORKU ABEBAW ASRESSIE

Project beneficiaries have been beekeeping using donated frame hives provided by the government extension service, targeting the poorest households with least food security. Three production systems were identified, based on the type of hives used: local style, transitional and frame hives. 86% of honey production came from local style hives, with the remaining 14% of production from (more recently introduced) frame hives. Beekeeping was practised by a substantial minority of households (28.6%), with over 19,000 honey bee colonies. On average, frame hives

Frame hives provided as project support to resource-poor farmers

Market Promotion Day for Yewag Wollela, the local brand name for pure and white honey harvested in the Sekota Area, North Ethiopia 6

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While the value of beekeeping for household income is frequently mentioned, this is often done as a logical assumption rather than using empirical evidence. This academic study adds quantitatively to our knowledge of the valuable role of beekeeping in rural livelihoods. The introduction of modern technology and improved management through capacity building (skill training efforts) is often based on an inherent assumption that these will improve yields. However, without external support, frame hives and accessories are not affordable to resource poor farmers. These hives are not easily available in rural areas. Hives need to be made available free of charge, or interest free with revolving loans.

Local style hives by contrast are freely and cheaply available.

1 2 3 4 5

MOARD = Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development MOFED = Ministry of Finance & Economic Development Sekota Woreda, Wag Hemira administrative zone in Amhara State Sekota Mar is the Amharic term for honey from that locality Productive safety net programme (PSNP) is a government programme aimed to provide a more constructive form of aid, so that chronically food insecure people are able to save and invest towards a food-secure future (USAID).

Acknowledgment I thank Dr Robert Brook and Ms Pam Gregory for their technical advice and support.

References BRADBEAR, N. (2003). Beekeeping and sustainable livelihoods.

Diversification booklet 1. FAO, Rome, Italy.

FAOSTAT (2007). http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx MOARD (2003). Beekeeping resources development extension packages.

Amharic version, unpublished. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

MOFED (2002). Sustainable development and poverty reduction program: Federal Republic of Ethiopian Government. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Worku Abebaw Asressie studied at Bangor University, UK. This article is an extract from his MSc thesis (2009).

Beekeepers preparing honey for market

WHITE HONEY GROWS SCARCE AS BEES ABANDON ETHIOPIA'S PARCHED PEAKS

Ahamedin. He grips a large screwdriver with both hands to ladle a dollop of thick and lumpy white honey out of a plastic bucket. It is snow-white, tastes sweet and is waxier than yellow honey.

"The price is the highest it has ever been because of scarcity,'' said Ahamedin who sells white honey for US$11 (€9) per kg. Last year he charged US$7 (€8). Ethiopia is Africa's biggest honey producer and the world's fourth biggest beeswax exporter. After coffee, gold and cowhide, bee products are major contributors to the economy, especially through exports to Italy, where white honey is considered a delicacy.

Bee products are the only export item produced by Tigray's impoverished 4.6 million people, whose region is said to be one of the world’s worst hit by climate change. Such is Ethiopians' love of honey that apitherapy clinics offer treatments for many ailments.

Drought forces bees into valleys in search of flowers, meaning they produce yellow honey. Rare white honey from Ethiopia's highest peaks is in danger of disappearing, according to beekeepers in the Tigray region. "No rain for the flowers,'' said Ashenaf Abera as he stood on his rocky, parched slope in the northern Ethiopian region whose famine inspired Bob Geldof to stage Live Aid in 1985. "The bees need high-altitude flowers for the white honey. When they cannot find them, they go to other plants and produce yellow honey.''

The region's bee population is also in decline, with climate change and deforestation to blame. 150 years ago Tigray was a wealthy, lush region when its King, Johannes IV, brought a carpenter from Italy to fashion his imposing throne from local juniper wood. Wars with Egypt, Italy, Sudan and neighbouring Eritrea led to deforestation. '"Without the trees, the rainwater – which seems to be declining – does not run off the limestone in a useful way. That is why we end up with a landscape of rocks and little else,'' said local water expert Leul Fisseha.

Abera is paid US$96 (€75) a month to look after 270 colonies for the Asira Metira monastery, one of 12 religious centres in an area whose 4th Century rock churches are among the wonders of the world. "We know about bees,'' said honey seller Sheikh Mohamed

Alex Duval Smith, The Observer 18 April 2010 7

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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING

USING LOCAL STYLE AND TOP-BAR HIVES IN UGANDA Geofrey Kizito, Kikandwa Environmental Association, PO Box 40, Mityana, Uganda Keywords: Africa, basket hive, bee disease, beeswax, clay pipe hive, floriculture, log hive

bees. The iron sheet is placed over the hive to prevent rain from causing damage.

When the honey area is full, the farmer removes some combs for honey extraction. Note: a few honey combs are always left behind.

Background information

In the wild, honey bees nest in hollow trees. Beekeepers used to keep bees in a variety of containers including hollow logs, baskets, clay pipes and wooden boxes. However it is not easy extracting honey from these hives and it can result in destroying the colony. Now honey bees are kept in improved style hives made of locally available materials.

Each community uses different materials available from their surrounding environment. The hives are woven like baskets into cylindrical shapes.

Hygiene

Like any farmer or animal owner, a good beekeeper must keep her/his colony healthy. He/she needs to make sure that the hives are kept dry and are in a sheltered place. The beekeeper will often look at the bees as they go in and out of the hive. If bees are dying most beekeepers suspect something is wrong and try to find a solution or treatment.

Often bees are faced with problems from pesticides and agrochemicals used in agriculture, and they can abscond to another area. This may be conducive to the colony but is a loss to the beekeeper.

It is important to monitor the hives. The beekeeper needs to make sure that bees have enough food at the end of the dry season after removing the honey, and must make up any discrepancy in the rainy season by feeding with sugar syrup. He/she may also feed the bees at other times if the weather is bad and the bees are unable to forage.

The beekeeper wears protective clothing (a bee suit) because if they feel threatened, honey bees will sting to protect their colony.

We have introduced 85 top-bar hives and 300 local style hives. We are encouraging women and young people to join us. From February-May and August-November is the wet season, flowering is high and there is a lot of honey. Our objectives are to promote floriculture in the community instead of the bees having to fly long distances in search of nectar and pollen. Also to begin marketing beeswax as most farmers see it as a waste product. We know how to use gentle heat to clean wax but still lack the knowledge to make full use of it, for example in candle making. Our challenges are proper handling of honey when harvesting

Materials required

• Locally available material for example bamboo, Dombeya sp, palm tree, shea nut tree and reeds made into thin strips for weaving • Cow dung • Beeswax • An odd number of sticks each about 2 m long • Corrugated iron sheet

Making the hive

PHOTOS © GEOFREY KIZITO

The beekeeper arranges the sticks in a cylindrical shape (the higher the number of sticks the bigger the hive). He/she starts weaving the materials from one end to another. The beekeeper will smear a 0.25 cm layer of cow dung on the inside and 1 cm layer on the outside of the hive and leave it to dry. When it is dry the beekeeper will smear the inside of the hive with beeswax to reduce the work for the colony in sealing the hive, and to help the bees to build the combs easily.

A cover is designed from local materials and sealed with cow dung and beeswax. Small holes are left to allow entrance and exit of the honey

Kikandwa Environmental Association beekeepers use both top-bar and local style hives. Corrugated iron sheets are placed over the hives to prevent rain damage 8

PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING

Bees for Development Journal 95

10th ASIAN APICULTURAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE

to avoid contamination, marketing and exploitation by middle men. We mostly target local markets and would like to join the international market.

We obtain a lot of information from the Bf D website and have made good use of it, especially in developing beekeeping and management.

We have learned from the experiences other beekeepers send in, and it has helped our small beekeeping enterprise to move on.

Busan, South Korea, 4-7 November 2010

Hosted by: Asian Apicultural Association Korea Beekeeping Association Apicultural Society of Korea Congress theme Green life with bee world

Congress sessions • Apiculture extension • Bee biology • Bee products and apitherapy • Beekeeping economy • Beekeeping technology • Bees and the environment • Melliferous flora and pollination • Pests and diseases

Top-bar hive on a stand

More information: www.aaa2010.or.kr

LEARN AHEAD

IRELAND Irish Beekeepers Summer Course 26-31 July 2010, Gormanston Further details ryansfancy@gmail.com MEXICO Organic beekeeping June – October 2010, Tapachula Further details www.ecosur.mx/Diplomados.html KENYA Baraka College Courses Further details www.sustainableag.org

Bf D Beekeepers' Safaris Turkey 24 July - 5 August 2010 Rodrigues and Mauritius 28 November – 9 December 2010 Trinidad & Tobago 7-17 February 2011 Further details on our website

Local style hives are cylindrical in shape and smeared with cow dung on the inside and outside for waterproofing and to keep bees cool

If you have a story to tell about the development of your beekeeping enterprise project and how Bf D has helped, contact us by email, through our website or use the address on page 2.

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Bees for Development Journal 95

CARIBBEAN ROUND-UP

PHOTO CREDIT © BO STERK

HAITI – BEEKEEPING PROJECT Bo Sterk, St Augustine, Florida, USA

Keywords: Caribbean, income generation, log hive, poverty alleviation, top-bar hive, Varroa

Beekeeping has been part of Haitian culture longer than in any other culture in the western hemisphere. Haiti could be the repository of the first honey bees transported to the New World by early Spanish and/or French explorers. Today, log hives are used and Haitian beekeepers work with colonies using information handed down by generations.

The project that I embarked on two years ago was to aid the beekeepers with additional information and simple beekeeping methods, teaching the use of top-bar hives, bee biology and the importance of bee space in a hive. The aim was sustainable income for families in this crippled nation.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, with problems rooted deep in its history. The people have a genuine hunger for education, on which they spend what little money they have. Average wages are US$1-3 per day. Schooling costs US$10 per child each month.

My last visit took me to rural south-west Haiti in the mountain village of Placince de Sud where lectures were held in the local Catholic Church the largest meeting place in the village. The group of 40 men and women were excited about the information. Beginner beekeeping manuals were printed in French and distributed to the students. One man walked for hours each way to classes for four consecutive days. We built top-bar hives out of newly purchased plywood. Each sheet cost US$80. I laid it out so we could get four hives from each sheet; it would take a month’s wages to buy the wood for just one hive. We applied screen bottoms to the hives since Varroa is present in Haiti.

The bee yard I surveyed increased from 7 to 60 logs in 2+ years. The owner was concerned by having lost 10% of his colonies. Feral honey bee colonies are plentiful in Haiti and easy to catch. Africanised bees have been reported in Dominican Republic, which is on the eastern side of the island shared with Haiti.

This seemed the perfect place to implement the use of top-bar hives.

Simple to make and use, limited wood required, and no need for extractors. Like much of Haiti, the beekeepers need to slowly pick up the pieces of their lives with a long-term sustainable income.

Log hives used by Haitian beekeepers

End view of the log hive shows how the colony builds comb inside

The beekeepers all made it through the earthquake disaster. Most lost everything and moved to the countryside to survive. I hope to return in the near future when the conditions improve. A new school for apiculture is underway just north of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The school is on the campus of Queensland University. If any culture can survive the hardship of an earthquake, it is Haiti. These are proud people, capable of pulling themselves up. With the right guidance I believe they will recover, especially with the support of fellow beekeepers worldwide.

Please see our appeal for beekeepers in Haiti, page 2

6th Caribbean Beekeeping Congress Grenada 8-13 November 2010

Convened by the Government of Grenada and the Grenada Association of Beekeepers, in collaboration with the Association of Caribbean Beekeeping Organizations (ACBO) Take this unique opportunity to experience the beauty of Grenada while sharing the latest apicultural information, ideas and experiences throughout the Caribbean and wider region.

More information

www.6cbcgrenada.gd/Home.aspx Email: info@beekeepers.gd 10

CARIBBEAN ROUND-UP

Bees for Development Journal 95

Smoking a hive ready for honey harvest

Top-bar hives were introduced as part of the project

Honey bees nesting in a log hive

Bees in an Haitian hive

Unemployed single mothers and professionals seeking additional income are among those getting involved in beekeeping, an industry in which there is renewed interest, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MA).

"The regular profile of the beekeeper is changing with a lot of professionals and a significant increase in the number of women coming into the industry," said Kwesi Palmer, the officer with responsibility for beekeepers in Kingston, St Andrew and St Thomas.

At a recent meeting of the St Thomas Beekeeping Association Palmer said that unlike in years past when beekeepers sold honey by the road side, those involved in the business today are increasingly labelling their products while adopting a variety of other marketing strategies designed to boost their profit margins. The MA has training available for those interested in beekeeping, with the result that there is increased export potential for honey.

Palmer said farmers cannot satisfy the local demand for honey, in part due to the challenges involved with securing investment capital. A colony costs JM$9,000-10,000 (US$100-114), while a bee farmer would need a minimum of four to five colonies for a production of 36-68 litres of honey - in addition to the other costs involved, such as purchasing protective gear. Palmer is optimistic that more financial institutions will fund beekeeping, once they understand how viable it can be. He noted that contrary to popular belief, beekeeping does not carry a higher risk than any

other agribusiness. Palmer admitted that theft was a growing concern for beekeepers but encouraged them to continue and invest in the development and promotion of other products such as pollen and wax.

With a decline in the global population of bees and an ever increasing demand, Palmer said more people are needed to focus on beekeeping to replenish the depleting stocks.

Delroy McNish, President of St Thomas Beekeeping Association, agreed that more people are beekeeping. This is partly due to a recent United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programme, which supported people to begin their own beekeeping operations.

Under the programme, a parish apiary was established to supply new entrants into the industry with bee stocks. USAID involvement has ended but members of the Association have been able to continue the programme and schedule regular work-days at the parish apiary for new beekeepers. McNish wants greater assistance for bee farmers to expand their operations: "We have a lot of trained people coming in with five hives but how can they move to owning 50 hives so they can sell a drum of honey? This is why we need help." He added that bee farmers have no difficulty identifying markets for their honey and there has never been enough honey in Jamaica: people have the option of selling to the bottling plant in Linstead, which buys honey for both local and export markets.

Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com

JAMAICA – RENEWED INTEREST IN BEEKEEPING

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NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

Manager of the honey bee project at Labasa Muslim College, Madhu Swami said that when they set up their first hive in 2007 they did not envisage it would one day save students' education. "We started with three hives and gradually expanded and eventually so did our income levels." Last year, the money from the project was used to pay school fees for 11 students, and part of the money that we earned is directed to a welfare fund to assist students with bus fares”.

“Involving students in the project equips them with the skills of bee farming. This is an alternative source of income, something that they can pursue if it all does not work out in the classroom. The target is for continued expansion to a level that will involve all the students at the school,” said Madhu Swamil.

The project is sponsored by the Vodafone ATH foundation.

Source: www.fijitimes.com

INDIA

Our primary focus is on improving bee ecology and beekeeping methods that respect the honey bee. Our hope is that by introducing new beekeepers to the rewards of beekeeping, there will eventually be millions of ‘backyard’ beekeepers worldwide who will help bring back bee populations and improve the genetic diversity of honey bees. This diversity is critically important for the survival of this most precious natural resource. With this in view, we have developed a low-cost top-bar hive called the Kissan hive, built of Ferro cement. It costs less than US$1.00 (€0.78) to make. It is lightweight and portable. Being built of Ferro cement it should last a life time if well looked after. We have also brought out a detailed e-book for those who wish to take up beekeeping as a hobby. This e-book details how to make the hive and other equipment such as honey extractor and veil, using every day household items or recycled scrap material. We have

The Kissan hive

Guru Nath, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

LEBANON

A celebration was held in February for the launch of an apiculture project under the patronage of the Safadi Corporation and with the collaboration of AIDA Group and funding from AECID, the official Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance. Minister

Mohammad Safadi explained that the purpose of the project was to re-vitalise beekeeping in North Lebanon as a means to fight poverty.

The Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon, Juan Carlos Gafo, said that over US$400,000 (€320,000) had been donated to the project.

Source: www.iloubnan.info/business

TURKEY

One type of honey harvested in the Black Sea Region is poisonous if consumed in large amounts. This honey is known as ‘crazy honey’ or ‘sour honey’ by the local people. It is Rhododendron honey, Orman gülü or Kumar in Turkish, which is poisonous (grayanotoxin, formerly known as andromedotoxin, acetylandromedol, and rhodotoxin) to humans due to the highly toxic compounds it contains. A well known story about this honey dates back to 399 BC. When Xenopon’s army retreated from Persia across Pontus in Asia Minor near Trabzon in the Black Sea, the soldiers ate Rhododendron honey and were poisoned. It took over a day for the soldiers to recover from the toxic effects.

İrfan Kandemir, Ankara University, Turkey

UGANDA

Adyaka Rural Youth Development Initiative were runners up (northern Uganda) in the Private Sector Foundation’s Annual Community Development Award receiving a certificate and cash prize of UGX500,000 (US$250; €180) towards the purchase of more hives.

Robert Okodia, Adyaka Rural Youth Development Initiative, Lira

Training with Adyaka Rural Youth Development Initiative 12

PHOTO CREDIT © ROBERT OKODIA

Two honey processing plants worth US$50,000 (€40,200) are due to begin operation shortly to support existing market demand for honey. Agriculture Officer Kamal Prasad said “The plants will be managed by Food Processors (Fiji) Limited and Island Apiary and can process 200 kg of honey per shift. The current market demand is 800 tonnes but our production stands at only 395 tonnes per year. The cleanliness and quality of the processed honey will meet international standards and will enable honey products to penetrate the tourist sector”.

tried to keep the start up cost very low and affordable. The Kissan hive could be mass produced. The e-book is available for a small price from www.freebeekeeping.com

PHOTO CREDIT © FREEBEEKEEPING.COM

FIJI

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

SUDAN

A little sorghum is grown but ironstone covers large areas of the land. Hives are constructed from split bamboo woven into a cylinder 2 m long and 30 cm wide. This is then coated with mud mixed with the fibres of a creeper called Luyu (possibly a Cissus species). The fibres are

PHOTOS © PAUL LATHAM

Aguko village is in Warrap State, southern Sudan. Chief Sultan Arkanzelo and local beekeepers showed some of their hives and how they are made. Beekeeping is the principal activity of the Bongo people at Aguko.

Bees for Development Journal 95

slippery and make the mud stick to the bamboo. The hive is then covered with a layer of grass and a second woven bamboo cover is constructed around it. This 3-4 layer hive ensures that, even if it is put in a tree with little foliage, it will not be affected by the heat from the sun. Each end is closed with a palm leaf circle made from Borassus aethiopum and a third entrance may be made half way along on larger hives.

When the hive is complete a hole is made in the ground and the bark of Vitellaria paradoxa (Shea tree) is burnt and the smoke allowed to infuse the hive for 24 hours. Hives will last 5-8 years if well made. The hive is placed horizontally about 4 m high in a tree to avoid damage when the grass is burned. Hives are placed at any time of year and bees normally enter fairly soon. After about one year of being occupied, the first harvest can be taken.

Thereafter two other harvests can be taken.

Harvesting is usually in March, May and September with a total of about 10 litres of honey being obtained per year. A special grass is used to produce smoke, and at each harvest, combs are only taken from one half of the hive.

A central core of comb is left, and as far as possible only ripe honey is harvested.

Several layers make up the hive used by Aguko beekeepers

Honey forms the main currency for the Bongo people, with any remaining comb being used for brewing. Beekeeping is done only by men, as is all the hive construction work. Honey is sold for approximately SDG4 (US$1.5; €1.0) per 500 ml bottle and beekeepers have no difficulty selling their honey.

I was impressed with the design, care and skill involved in making the hives, which normally take two days to make. I was also impressed by the defensiveness of the bees. Even passing below a hive, one was liable to be attacked and chased for quite a distance!

Paul Latham, Blairgowrie, UK

The layered hive ensures that it will not be affected by heat from the sun

Hives are placed about 4 m high in trees to avoid damage when grass is burned 13

Bees for Development Journal 95

NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

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PHOTOS © MIKE ALLSOPP

LETTER

There has been great concern in beekeeping in The Gambia. The Professional Beekeepers Association have a problem which has been reported also in other parts of the country. In some of our hives, especially in top-bar hives, which are used most in The Gambia, we find a lot of black beetles among the combs and the bottom of the hive.

In these hives the combs become very dry. So I would like to ask some questions about these beetles: 1. What causes them to be in the hive?

2. Are these beetles harmful to the bees?

3. Can they contaminate the honey?

4. If they are harmful to the bees and honey what are the ways to prevent them?

Thank you Bf D for the good work that you are doing - keep it up.

Musa Gibba, CEO, Professional Beekeepers Association, Brikama, The Gambia

Black adult small hive beetles visible among the bees

Bf D replies

The beetle is the Small Hive Beetle (see image above, top right) Aethina tumida. This occurs in bee colonies across Africa, but does not usually present a significant problem for strong colonies of African honey bees.

The Large Hive Beetle (LHB) Hyplostoma fuligineus also occurs naturally here. There are two solutions: 1. Have smaller entrances - this will prevent the LHB from entering the hive.

2. Keep colonies strong enough to be able to cope with any damage caused by the beetles.

Read more in our Information Portal (register to access, free of charge) www.beesfordevelopment.org/portal Has anyone else experienced problems with beetles in their hives?

The large hive beetle

NOTICE BOARD

CONGRATULATIONS Dr Nizar Haddad, Head of the Bee Research Unit based in Baq’a has been selected by the Jordanian Government to win an award from the prime minister of Jordan – the Ideal and Outstanding Government Employees Award for 2009. Dr Haddad is one of 10 winners and received the award in recognition of the research and development work he has carried out with honey bees.

PROJECT FUNDING FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, supports beekeeping projects in developing countries.

TeleFood Special Fund Beekeepers’ groups and associations may apply for small project funding of up to US$10,000. Request documents should include a brief description of project objectives, proposed food production or income-generating activities, work plan, number of participants, detailed list of inputs with cost estimates and reporting arrangements. Submit your request to the FAO or UNDP office in your country.

See www.fao.org and inform BfD of the outcome of your application.

1% for Development Fund Small grants to enable community based beekeeping projects in developing countries to get off the ground. Applicants must clearly define objectives and how they are to be attained. See One-Per-Cent-Fund@FAO.org BEE CRAFT The UK’s leading monthly beekeeping magazine. View a digital copy and subscribe on line at www.bee-craft.com

COPYRIGHT You are welcome to translate and/or reproduce items appearing in BfDJ as part of our Information Service. Permission is given on the understanding that BfDJ and author(s) are acknowledged, Bf D contact details are provided in full, and you send us a copy of the item or the website address where it is used.

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Bees for Development Journal 95

AVAILABLE FROM Bf D NOW AT WWW.BEESFORDEVELOPMENT.ORG

BOOK SHELF

HONEY BEES OF BORNEO – EXPLORING THE CENTRE OF APIS DIVERSITY

Nikolaus Koeniger, Gudrun Koeniger and Salim Tingek. Foreword by Nicola Bradbear 2010 262 pages Hardback £42 (€663) K905 Many aspects of our knowledge of honey bees are clearly explained and perfectly illustrated in this important new book. In Africa, the Middle East and Europe there is one indigenous honey bee species: Apis mellifera. This bee has been introduced to most other countries and has been researched extensively. Borneo is home to five of the eight other honey bee species and offers unparalleled opportunity for their close observation and comparison. The nine honey bee species show dramatic variations in behaviour – some nest on a series of parallel combs within a cavity, while (so-called) dwarf or giant honey bees nest on single combs in the open.

The five species co-existing in Borneo include representatives of each type. The authors have been studying these bees for more than 20 years, thus gaining a unique insight of the species’ diversity, their evolutionary history, and their astonishing adaptation to fit with their environments. The authors’ many research discoveries have been presented in research papers over the years, but now are gathered and presented here with a simple clarity that will enable readers to gain a wide and well focussed perspective of honey bee behaviour and ecology.

Also included is a simple key, useful for anyone seeking to confirm the identity of Asian honey bees.

Honey gathering from Borneo’s bees is also described, with an urgent plea for their recognition and protection.

Local authorities need to be aware that they are the custodians of precious resources, and need to do all they can to ensure the bees’ protection from forest destruction, non-sustainable exploitation, and introduction of exotic pests and predators. For so many reasons, these honey bee species deserve our utmost protection. This book calls for everyone concerned with bee research, and with setting bee produce quality criteria, to realise that Apis mellifera belongs to a family of nine honey bee species, and when considering honey bees or their produce, all species must be considered and protected.

BEEKEEPING FOR ALL – SIMPLE AND PRODUCTIVE BEEKEEPING

Abbé Émile Warré 2010 translation by David and Patricia Heaf 154 pages £13.50 (€118) W200

This is the first English translation of the 1948 edition of Abbé Warré’s popular and famous book, L’apiculture pour tous that has run to 12 editions in French. The fundamental premise of this approach is to allow bees to build their natural nest, always developing their nest downwards, just as they do in nature, and never rearing brood in old comb. Please see pages 3-5 in this edition and the next BfDJ to read David Heaf’s description of Warré beekeeping. At the same time, the hive is very simple and easy for people to make and to manage - as Abbé Warré put it: ‘More honey with less worry’.

At Bees for Development we believe that the Warré hive (and in Asia the Top pile hive as described in BfDJ94 ) represent simple and feasible ways to keep Apis mellifera and Apis cerana type bees. If you decide to try these or similar methods, let us know how you get on.

THE BAD BEEKEEPERS CLUB

Bill Turnbull 2010 247 pages Hardback £13.99 (€221) T750 Bill Turnbull is well known to British beekeepers as the BBC (as in British Broadcasting Corporation) journalist and presenter of the popular Breakfast Time programme. Away from television, Bill is an experienced beekeeper and Patron of Bf D Trust, and now he has written about another BBC, the Bad Beekeepers Club! This is an engaging account of his beekeeping life, written in self deprecating style, whereby his abilities never quite match up to his aspirations. Nevertheless, his bees continuously provide him with important lessons in life, and even honey harvests too with jars of honey that happily sell at fantastic prices in celebrity auctions. An enjoyable read that will strike a chord with all enthusiastic beekeepers and their long-suffering families.

BUMBLEBEES – BEHAVIOUR, ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION

Dave Goulson 2010 317 pages £31 (€447) G444 A new edition of this comprehensive text first published in 2003, now updated to include findings from the considerable research that has been undertaken on bumble bees in recent years. The result is a current account of the status of bumble bees and how we are affecting their ecology – in some areas such as North America they are becoming extinct, while elsewhere they have been introduced for pollination to areas where they do not occur naturally, as in Japan, and are proving to be invasive species. Intended for students, researchers and amateur entomologists, this text provides an excellent review of bumble bee biology and behaviour.

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BOOKSHELF

Bees for Development Journal 95

KEEPING HEALTHY HONEY BEES

David Aston and Sally Bucknall 2010 194 words £17 (€224) A350 This new text describes how to manage colonies of Apis mellifera honey bees (in frame hives, in the UK) such that they remain healthy in the presence of Varroa, other diseases, and our far from perfect environmental situation. The authors set out a clear methodology for practising integrated bee health management, to give bees an excellent chance of healthy survival.

Sections 1 and 2 describe the natural history of the colony and management approaches for maintaining bee health; Sections 3 and 4 describe pests, predators and diseases and their prevention and control; Sections 5, 6 and 7 cover the essentials of good bee husbandry, caring for the queen and managing swarming; Section 8 is a useful guide to what needs to be done each season during a typical year, while Section 9 describes other techniques that the beekeeper may sometimes need. This text is readable and clear, describing the careful and informed approach to beekeeping that becomes increasingly necessary as conditions for honey bees deteriorate.

A very useful and comprehensive guide.

HOW TO MAKE BEESWAX CANDLES

Clara Furness 2010 reprint 20 pages £6 (€88) F600 An excellent text that provides completely reliable information on handling beeswax and making candles. Full of important details, hints and tips. This new edition has been enlarged by including Clara’s articles on Candle customs ancient and modern, and Judging beeswax candles. Very highly recommended.

Also NEW in store PLAN BEE

Susan Brackney 2010 192 pages £9.99 (€115) B450

Plan Bee is a quirky book full of interesting bee facts, anecdotes, hints and recipes.

BEE BOLES AND BEE HOUSES

Anne M Foster 2010 reprint 32 pages £5.99 (€88) F335

A reprint of the 1988 Shire Classic text. Bee boles are manmade structures, built during previous centuries, when UK beekeepers kept bees in baskets known as skeps.

Bf D TRAINING MATERIALS

Lots of new titles - see page 20

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Bees for Development Journal 95

LOOK AHEAD

ARGENTINA APIMONDIA: 42nd International Apicultural Congress September 2011, Buenos Aires Further details apimondia2011@mci-group.com BRAZIL 10th Congreso Iberolatinamericano de Apicultura October 2010, Rio Grande do Norte Further details in the next issue BULGARIA APIMONDIA: Organic beekeeping conference 27-29 August 2010, Black Sea Coast Further details www.bee-hexagon.net/en/organic.htm CAMEROON SNV-WCA Forestry Knowledge Network 1-3 June 2010, Foumban Further details mvabi@snvworld.org COLOMBIA 1st Simposio Iberolatinoamericano de Apiterapia 2-5 June 2010, Tolima Further details apiterapiacolombiana@gmail.com

GRENADA 6th Caribbean Beekeeping Congress 8-13 November 2010 Further details on page 8 IRELAND BIBBA-GBBG-SICAMM-FIBKA Conference Going Native - the practicalities of breeding local honey bees 3-5 September 2010, Cahir Further details www.sicamm.org MEXICO ICPBR Pollination Symposium NEW DATES June 2011 Cholula (Puebla) Further details www.uoguelph.ca/icpbr SLOVENIA APIMONDIA: Apimedica & Apiquality Forum 28 September - 2 October 2010, Ljubljana Further details www.apimedica.org SOUTH KOREA 10th Asian Apicultural Association Congress 4-7 November 2010, Busan Further details on page 20 TURKEY 43rd Annual Meeting of Society for Invertebrate Pathology 11-15 July 2010, Trabzon Further details www.sip2010.org

EURBEE – 4th European Conference of Apiculture 7-9 September 2010, Metu - Ankara Further details www.eurbee2010.org UK Conwy Honey Fair 13 September 2010, Conwy North Wales Further details www.conwybeekeepers.org.uk 79th National Honey Show 28-30 October 2010, Weybridge Further details www.honeyshow.co.uk UKRAINE APIMONDIA: 43rd International Apicultural Congress September 2013, Kiev Further details www.apimondia2013.org.ua USA 1st International Conference: Pollinator Biology, Health & Policy 24-28 July 2010, Pennsylvania State University Further details www.ento.psu.edu/news VIETNAM International Conference: Beekeeping Development & Honey Marketing Affiliated with Apimondia 30 October - 2 November 2010, Hanoi Further details www.ias2010hanoi.com

If you want notice of your conference, workshop or meeting to be included here and on our website send details to Bees for Development, address on page 20

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Bees for Development Journal 95

SPONSORED SUBSCRIPTION

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Or send a letter. We need to know your name, organisation, full postal address, email address (if any), plus a few details about your beekeeping activities.

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Bees for Development Journal 95

NEW RESOURCES Beekeeping Training Modules

Bees for Development has produced a new set of five Beekeeping Training Modules for use by

trainers in Africa. Each booklet provides one day of training on one topic. The Modules are accompanied by nine Training Cards. These A4 size laminated cards provide pictures and plans illustrating techniques discussed in the five booklets.

TRAINING MODULES

Each one is a 16 page illustrated booklet 1. Value and life of the honey bee 2. Choosing and making a bee hive 3. Harvesting and processing beeswax

4. Harvesting and processing honey 5. Honey bee colony management

TRAINING CARDS

A4 laminated, double sided, over 60 illustrations and plans 1. Pests and predators 6. Separating honey 2. Biology of the honey bee 7. Rendering beeswax 3. Choosing a bee hive 8. Hives in Africa 4. Beekeeping diary 9. Top-bar hive dimensions 5. Comb

BEEKEEPING AND DEVELOPMENT GUIDES

Market access for beekeeping and Information for honey packers.

These are 32 page, illustrated booklets, intended for use in Africa.

FRENCH EDITION OF INFORMATION POSTER 1

Dix bonnes raisons qui expliquent comment l’apiculture soutient le développement économique et social.

Other languages available are English, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish.

Projects and associations in developing countries can apply for a Sponsored Resource Box by completing an application form available on our website, or request a form bypost or email.

Projects in other areas can purchase Resource Boxes and the items described above through our website store at www.beesfordevelopment.org ISSN 1477-6588

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