Bees for Development Journal 105
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD BURMA
KENYA
Members of the Burma Apiculture Association are worried because Chinese honey is being imported. The cheaper product is a threat to income for local beekeepers.
I wish to thank you for the Resource Box that I recently received. I have read many editions of BfDJ and have more insight on best practices. I have keenly followed the discussions on frame hives, especially after failing miserably with their management and I have now considered top-bar hives. My main challenge was accessing initial support from the vendors of the hives. I have also faced challenges from honey badgers and human pests who vandalised my hives and stole the honey. I am reviving my project with reference to all the literature I have received. Long live BfD!
“Our honey has an excellent international reputation because of its quality and purity,” said U Win Sein, Vice-Chair of the Livestock Federation. Since 2005 honey has been exported from Burma. Over 2,132 tonnes were exported in 2011-12, earning US$2.13 (€1.66) million. U Pyae Phyo Aung, Chairman of the Apiculture Association, said the industry needed government protection: “We want to protect our market here in the face of business people who are trying to make easy profits. Beekeeping is already a challenging business and many in the industry make small profits. Beekeeping is commercially practised countrywide with major producers in Magwe, Mandalay and Sagaing regions. In 2010-11 365 beekeepers with 60,000 colonies were Association members”. Myat Nyein Aye, www.mmtimes.com
INDIA On behalf of the Rural Institute of Apiculture I would like to offer our sincere thanks for the resource materials you have supplied. We are working with a Tribal community to promote Non-Timber Forest Based Industries for Livelihoods Support under the North East Development Society. Beekeeping is one of the major areas where we are taking initiative. We have a Honey Producers Association in Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram States. In each Association there are individuals and a self-help group, together totalling 37 beekeepers.
is first put in the hive and then the swarm. The brood comb will prevent the swarm from absconding. His hives are sited near to his home.
Kariuki Waweru, Nairobi See page 19 for more information on Resource Boxes
MADAGASCAR Mr Rado Ratakamamola lives in Savamba in north-eastern Madagascar and works on a coconut plantation that has 40 honey bee colonies for pollination and honey production. He manages his own four colonies and claims to make a good income. He collects wild swarms or colonies from nearby forests and keeps them in home-made bags hanging on a tree near his house until the colony is settled. The bees are then transferred to a frame hive. The bees are not defensive and Mr Rado Ratakamamola does not use protective clothing.
Lutfor Abraham, Director - RIA BRIGLE, Guwahati City, Assam State
Brood comb is collected from the same nest as the swarm
The bees are very gentle and easy to handle
Kerala State in South India is one of the best places to harvest large quantities of honey from rubber cultivation and there is also a large forest area. I am a professional beekeeper and trainer. However, only 3% of the potential honey harvest is collected - the rest is lost because of lack of bees and beekeeping: this means the Spices Board is facing a crucial issue in Kerala State because the flowers are not pollinated. Therefore India must create a massive programme to develop beekeeping for this purpose.
Collected swarms are housed in homemade bags until colonies are settled
Bejoy Alex, Greenland Honey Beekeeping Centre, Pathanamthitta
Mr Rado Ratakamamola also brings brood and honey combs home. The brood comb 7
The bees are very gentle and easy to handle. The Madagascar honey bee Apis mellifera unicolor is endemic to the Island. It is black, small and docile, and can be kept close to houses. Due to Madagascar’s geographical isolation the bees are spared from many bee diseases and parasites. Ants and termites are not really a problem for beekeepers and it seems that Varroa and foulbrood diseases do not occur. Reinhard Fichtl, Zurich, Switzerland
