Bees for Development
JOURNAL
ISSUE NO 107, JUNE 2013
Good practice Beekeeping economics Straight combs in top-bar hives Pesticide protest www.beesfordevelopment.org
20 1993
YEARS 2013
COVER PHOTO © Franc Sivic
Bees for Development Journal 107
A honey bee forages on a field of geraniums at the foot of the Martuljek mountains, Slovenia. Awareness of the need to protect all pollinators and their habitat is increasing: see this page and pages 14 and 15
ISSUE No 107 June 2013
Here in UK it has been a late spring, with many beekeepers reporting that half or more of their honey bee colonies have died – certainly we had a terrible summer last year, followed by a long winter and cold spring. We cannot explain exactly why so many bees have died – but it is not just bees, and it is not just this year – two thirds of all of our pollinating insects are in decline, with birds and other species higher up the food chain declining at similar rates. There is a complex suite of reasons. One major reason is that we are poisoning insects - and destroying the food chain with the insecticides that we use in intensive agriculture. Insecticides are commonly used worldwide, and there are some areas in the world where wild pollinators have been already wiped out. One of these is Sichuan Province in China, where the bumblebees have been killed. Every year in spring time 40,000 farmers have now to hand pollinate their apple and pear trees. Of course, most people are not interested in insects and remain oblivious to their importance. So beekeepers have responsibility to alert everyone to the danger of losing our pollinators. For this reason, British beekeepers organised a protest against neonicotinoids in London in April, and here in Monmouth, Bees for Development also took to the streets – pictured below. In April European scientists at the Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that imidacloprid and two other neonicotinoids must not be used on crops that are attractive to honey bees, and this ban will be implemented across the EU from 1 November 2013. This is good news, and we hope that more nations and regions will implement similar bans. Inevitably it is beekeepers who must take responsibility for raising awareness and fighting to prohibit these toxic chemicals.
page
PHOTO © BfD
In this issue
Dear friends
Practical beekeeping – good beekeeping practice......................... 3 Beekeeping economics.................... 6 Honey industry in South Africa......... 9 Death of the bee tree........................ 9 EU Honey Directive.......................... 9 Practical beekeeping - straight combs in top-bar hives.............................. 10 More on Warré’s People’s Hive....... 13 Recent research............................. 14 Notice Board............................. 14,19 News around the World.................. 15 Look and Learn Ahead................... 16 Bookshelf....................................... 18 BfD Journal Produced quarterly and sent to readers in over 130 countries Editor Nicola Bradbear PhD Co-ordinator Helen Jackson BSc Subscriptions cost £26 per year - see page 18 for ways to pay Readers in developing countries may apply for a sponsored subscription. Apply online or use the form on page 20
Bees for Development Post 1 Agincourt Street Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Phone +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org
Raising awareness – BfD joins the protest against the use of neonicotinoids BfD Trust (UK Registered Charity1078803) works to assist beekeepers in developing countries. Support: Bees for Development Trust gratefully acknowledge Marr Munning Trust, Panta Rhea Foundation, E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd, Trade Advance Ltd, The Waterloo Foundation, and the many groups and individuals who support our work. Please encourage your friends and colleagues to help. See our website for how to become a Supporter. 2
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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
Good beekeeping practice knowledge in a nutshell
Organization of the United Nations who give this definition: “Good Agricultural Practice, economy, environmental compatibility, and social acceptance should be respected in production and processing of food items and other agricultural products in order to guarantee secure and healthy food”. This definition still sounds quite abstract. However it becomes more concrete if you transform the most important contents into Good Beekeeping Practice and summarise them as follows:
• balanced and species-appropriate beekeeping • avoidance of residues in bee products • quality management of bee products • documentation (for example concerning application of medicines,
Wolfgang Ritter, CVUA-Freiburg, Am Moos Weihez, D 79108, Freiburg, Germany
health certificate, traceability of products)
• protection of the environment • compliance with all relevant regulations for example
Keywords: bee escape, honey contamination, hygiene, residues in honey, robbing, smoker
pharmaceutical products concerning honey and food law.
A new series in which world expert Dr Wolfang Ritter offers advice for beekeeping in a bee-appropriate way and harvesting highest quality products. This series is relevant for beginners and more advanced beekeepers and will consider what Good Beekeeping Practice means for the management of bee colonies and honey processing. The relevant aspects are summarised and are detailed for practical application. A checklist will help you to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of your own management methods. Finally you should be in a position to assess whether Good Beekeeping Practice is respected in your own apiary and where changes are necessary.
Bee colony hygiene
Quality products can be produced only under proper hygienic conditions and therefore hygiene is of utmost importance in beekeeping. Harvesting honey and filling receptacles is not the whole story: residues and contaminants in bee products may be caused by management methods. Good Beekeeping Practice allows only the application of bee-appropriate methods.
Extraction of honey combs
Honey hygiene requires care over several points. Bees are sitting on the combs and they should be removed. To sweep them away with a clean brush is good. Unsuitable are repellents - substances to drive the bees away - for example ethereal oils or synthetic substances: their ingredients are mostly inappropriate for food items and can lead to illegal residues in bee products. In industrial style beekeeping, bees are often driven away from the combs using a ‘blower’: this leads to stress for the bees, and too strong an airstream can lead to the death of bees.
As for all food producers, beekeepers are legally liable for the products they sell or give away. It is not surprising therefore that the issue of Good Beekeeping Practice becomes increasingly important. You may rightly ask what is behind this expression? Literature and online searches reveal many different comments and explanations, but no clear description or even a precise definition. However, you often find the term Good Agricultural Practice (GAP). Further research takes you to FAO, the Food and Agricultural
Photos © J Schwenkel
Placing a comb near a colony in times of low nectar flow should be avoided: it immediately attracts bees and robbing takes place quickly
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For frame hive beekeepers ‘bee escapes’ are the best solution. Without any brood or drones in it, the honey chamber (super) is free of bees the next day. As the bees move to the brood chamber where the queen is situated, they calmly pass through the one-way bee escape. Afterwards the honey supers can be removed without any risk of robbing.
during comb removal, the bees are driven back into the beeways with a few additional, small puffs of smoke. The rule is to use only an amount of smoke so that the bees are calmed but not scared. (Too much smoke also means many sooty particles and if these get into open honey cells, it could lead to rejection of the honey during inspection.)
Avoiding robbing
However, not everything that burns easily and smokes a lot is a suitable smoking material. Chemical processes induced by heat can produce highly toxic substances if materials containing adhesive paint or glue, or treated with timber preservatives are used: not even the smallest trace should penetrate the honey which is a future food item! Defence sprays are not suitable also because their ingredients are unknown or not certified. Most suitable and non-hazardous are dried parts of plants. Rotten rootstocks, hay flowers, special dried plants or dried peel may be preferred, and wood shavings may be added for better burning, according to the beekeeper’s choice and/or ease of access.
When searching for food, bees are attracted to anything containing sugar or with a smell reminiscent of a bee hive. This may cause robbing especially at times outside the honey flow. An apiary with hives open for too long for management purposes becomes an easy victim. Also a weak colony cannot defend itself properly. Colonies in neighbouring apiaries can be affected because robbing takes place mostly within a radius of one kilometre. Remains of honey or other sweet substances can also be targeted by bees: the close proximity of honey waste containers or dumping sites carries a high risk for bee health as a large part of the honey available commercially contains spores of American Foulbrood. Also residues, for example of pharmaceutical products, can enter the bee colony in this way: therefore, you should always keep a watchful eye on apiary surroundings.
How to do Escapes in frame hives • Insert the intermediate board with the escape between honey and brood chamber • Bees cannot return to the honey chamber after leaving it • After 24 hours maximum, the honey chamber and the combs will be free of bees Advantages • Time-consuming sweeping away or removing bees is not necessary • The risk of robbing is reduced by working swiftly Disadvantages • Apiaries have to be visited the day before honey harvesting • Honey in the cooler combs may crystallize after a few days and may have to be warmed up again before honey extraction
Robbing can be avoided if weak colonies are not tolerated and if everything smelling of bees is stored away from them. The best time for treating colonies is in the evening shortly before dusk and smoking them gently avoids too much stress.
Soothing with smoke
For bees, smoke means wood fire and initiates them to take on food (honey) for an eventual escape: therefore they are busy and more inert with full honey sacs. In case of any disturbance the smoke will overwhelm the alert substances released by the bees. When the hive is opened, the bees moving towards the light are soothed by a few puffs of smoke. In order to avoid crushing them
Avoiding robbing • Work swiftly at the apiary • Stow away from bees: combs (especially honey combs), substances containing sugar, tools or equipment covered with wax or propolis What to do in the case of robbing • Stop treating • Reduce the size of entrance holes • Flour the bees at the flight board to identify the robbing colony • Do not keep weak colonies in the vicinity of strong ones • Place robbed colonies or colonies at risk 1-2 km away from the robber colony Smoking material
• Must not impair the taste and the quality (residues) of the bee products
• Must not affect the beekeeper by giving off acrid fumes or odours • Must alert the bees Unsuitable pipe tobacco (contains nicotine residues), wood chips (acrid fumes), jute bags dyed or treated with mineral oil (residues), wood treated with timber preservatives or covered with other substances (residues) Suitable: dried peel (apple, pear, etc), dried plants (hay flowers, tansy, yarrow), rotten, untreated wood, fir/spruce needles, jute bags (treated with vegetable oil only)
With gentle puffs of cool smoke you can immediately start inspecting an apiary without a lot of buzzing 4
Bees for Development Journal 107
Checklist for Good Beekeeping Practice
Yes
No
Bee products are not contaminated by repellents at honey harvest The extraction of combs is carried out in a bee-friendly way Weak bee colonies are not tolerated in the vicinity of strong ones Sugar water and other sugar-containing substances or tools and equipment smelling of bees are stored away from bees No honey dump sites in the vicinity and waste containers are verified and closed to bees The material used in the smoker leaves only a little dust and a few sooty particles and does not cause any residues BfDJ acknowledges www.diebiene.de as the source of this article For many years Dr Wolfgang Ritter has been Head of the OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) Reference Laboratory for Bee Diseases, and also President of the Scientific Commission for Bee Health of Apimondia, the International Federation of Beekeepers’ Associations. In the Veterinary Institute Freiburg (CVUA-Freiburg) Germany, Dr Ritter’s Division is engaged in laboratory diagnosis and disease control, both theoretical and in practice. Dr Ritter is well known as a trainer of beekeepers and veterinarians in bee health and for over 30 years he has worked scientifically and in practice in the field of bee health, especially in connection with the Varroa mite and honey bee viruses.
Insert the bee escape and put the full honey chamber back on top
The next edition of Good Beekeeping Practice will be About comb and equipment hygiene Using a rhombus bee escape in a frame hive
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Beekeeping economics – woodland beekeeping in Zambia
many cylindrical bark hives and hanging them in trees. The hives are dispersed throughout a large area of forest to ensure that they are readily occupied by swarms, migrating or absconding honey bee colonies. The wide distribution ensures good access to forage resources, and risks from fire or pests are spread, and thereby minimised.
Socio-economic analysis
The data used for this article is from work published by Wainwright in 1989. Although some of the factors will have changed since that time, the method of analysis remains instructive. In this article we use the 1988 figures and 1988 value in US$ used in the original paper (1.000 Zambian Kwacha (K) = US$0.125). See Table 5 for a benchmark against current figures.
Janet Lowore and Nicola Bradbear, Bees for Development, 1 Agincourt Street, Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK
Profitability of miombo woodland beekeeping
Wainwright developed a model based on his experiences observing and measuring bark hive beekeeping systems in NWP during the 1980s. To understand profitability it is necessary to calculate return on investment. The main investment in bark hive beekeeping is the labour of the beekeeper. The other factors for production – bees, nectar, bee trees and materials for making hives - are all freely available. It is instructive therefore to calculate the return on investment as the return on each day of labour invested, rather than the return on a financial investment. To work out the net incomes from bark hives, the labour requirements were considered. It is also important to consider the sensitivity of net income to variations in hive occupation rates and production per hive.
Keywords: Angola, bark hive, cropping ratio, DR Congo, local-style hive, log hive, miombo, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zimbabwe In this article we consider the economics of miombo woodland beekeeping in Zambia. Miombo woodlands are the largest forest type in Africa and stretch East-West from Mozambique to Angola and North-South from the southern part of DR Congo to Zimbabwe (White 1983). These woodlands are semi-deciduous, tend to be dominated by low financial value timber species, and are typically on nutrient poor soils. However, their value for beekeeping is acknowledged: “The dominance of Brachystegia, Isoberlinia and Julbernardia provides the basis for beekeeping as a highly significant (culturally, economically and socially) form of land use in miombo woodland” (Campbell et al 2007).
Table 1 shows data collected by Wainwright and used to work out the profitability of bark hives. Purchased equipment such as smokers and veils are not considered because these were optional and many beekeepers did not use them.
The miombo woodland beekeeping system practised in the North Western Province (NWP) of Zambia involves beekeepers making
Photos © BfD
Miombo woodland in Malawi
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Table 1. Costs and labour requirements of bark hives* Cost and labour requirements
Table 2. Daily wage outcomes for different combinations of average yield and percentage of hives cropped
Notes
Average yield per hive per cropping
Fixed labour Inspections
5 days labour
Swarm catching
0
Hive hanging
Percentage cropped (out of 100) The system relies on hives being occupied by bees – this does not involve further work by the beekeeper
21 days labour
8 kg
10 kg
15 kg
5% [five hives]
K3.90
K5.93
K7.18
K9.96
10% [ten hives]
K7.18
K10.47
K12.36
K16.28
15% [fifteen hives]
K9.96
K14.05
K16.28
K20.64
20% [twenty hives]
K12.36
K16.95
K19.35
K23.84
Below the average daily wage ie below K12
Variable labour Management of the colony
5 kg
Above the average daily wage ie above K12 0 days
The colonies are never opened, managed or manipulated until cropping
Discussion
Introducing swarms 0 days to hives
The system relies on self-colonisation
Table 3. Initial cost for a bark hive
Cropping honey
1 day/40 kg of honey
Transporting honey
2 days/40 kg of honey
Processing honey
1 day/40 kg of honey
Central to this analysis is an understanding that some labour investment is directly proportional to the volumes harvested
This calculation (Table 2) did not take into account the labour invested in making the hives in the first place. However, Wainwright did work out what this would entail - see Table 3.
*Assuming that the beekeeper places 100 bark hives in the forest
Calculation of net daily income
The labour effort which beekeepers invest in their system consists of fixed and variable labour. With bark hive beekeeping, the variable labour effort is taken up by cropping, transporting and processing honey: this is directly related to production ie the greater the harvest, the more labour is required. In Table 1 it is shown that a total of four days are spent cropping, transporting and processing each 40 kilograms of honey harvested. This allows us to use the figure of one day labour for every 10 kg of honey. In other beekeeping systems, where beekeepers manage their colonies more intensively, their labour investment will increase in proportion to the number of hives with bees. This does not apply to forest beekeeping.
Cash investment
0
Labour investment
0.6 days’ labour per hive
Cost of 0.6 days of labour per hive
0.6 x US$1.5* = US$0.9
Calculation of labour requirements
Time (days)
Cutting one hive from bark
0.16
Making pegs
0.10
Making doors
0.10
Gathering grass and fibre
0.08
Hanging the hive
0.16
Total labour days
0.60
*1 labour day= US$1.5 (US$1.00 = €0.77 in May 2013) To include the cost of making the hives, it would be necessary to know how many hives are renewed each year to maintain a stock of 100. If two days a year were spent making hives it would be necessary to increase the fixed labour costs associated with maintaining 100 hives from 26 to 28. This would have to be reflected in calculating the daily wage, and would slightly alter the results in Table 2.
Formula for returns on labour for bark hive beekeeping At the time the study was done (1988), the average rate for one day of labour was K12.00 (US$1.50) and the revenue from one kilogram of honey was K4.45 (US$0.56). The data in Table 1 makes it possible to work out the return on each day of labour - where a different number of hives are cropped, and their average yield varies. The scenario always involves 100 hives which demand 26 days of fixed labour.
This analysis assumes that variable costs associated with cropping, transporting and processing honey are related to total yield, regardless of whether the honey is harvested from many hives or few. In fact it is likely that there are increased labour implications from harvesting honey from many low yielding hives because it takes time to climb each tree to lower down the hive. Beekeepers will not waste time lowering down a hive which they can see to be empty, and a very small yield would be a wasted effort. This is why beekeepers design their system to mitigate against this scenario.
Daily wage = total income/total number of days spent beekeeping Total income = price x total yield Total number of days = 26 (fixed labour for 100 hives) + (total yield /10)
More about cropping ratios
A beekeeper with many hives is not able to crop all the occupied hives. This means that a hive might stay for two to five years without cropping. During this time large reserves of honey can be accumulated and many swarms are produced to occupy any empty hives. Cropping fewer hives, infrequently, is the most productive approach. The opposite situation - where a beekeeper crops all the
Total yield = number of hives cropped x average yield per hive
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References
hives, including newly occupied ones, is not very productive. Table 4 shows some information about cropping ratios. This data - collected by different people in different years - reveals that around half of all occupied hives are cropped.
CAMPBELL,B.M.; ANGELSEN,A.; CUNNINGHAM,A.; KATERERE,Y.; SITOE,A.; WUNDER,S. (2007) Miombo woodlands – opportunities and barriers to sustainable forest management. A Report for World Bank-administered Trust Fund for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development.
Table 4. Data concerning numbers of occupied hives and percentage cropped Silberrad (1976)
Clauss (1991)
Husselman (2009)
CLAUSS,B. (1991) Bees and beekeeping in the North Western Province of Zambia. Beekeeping Survey for Forestry Department. IRDP, Lusaka, Zambia.
35.0
40.6
33.0
16.6
No figure given
HUSSELMAN,M; PAUMGARTEN,F. (2009) Alleviating poverty through beekeeping: lessons from Zambia. Presentation given at Apimondia, 2009. CIFOR and SIDA.
Hive occupation (average %) Percentage of all hives which are cropped (average)
18.0
JOURNAL DU NET (2013) <http://www.journaldunet.com/ economie/salaire/pays/zambie.shtml>, accessed 10 May 2013]
Table 5. Costs and exchange rates in Zambia 1988, benchmarked against later figures
KANCHEYA, K. (2010) Sweet treasures from the forest: the case of Lua Lua Beekeeping Cooperative and Mungwi beekeepers. SNV Case Study, Lusaka, Zambia.
Costs
1988 (Wainwright 1989)
Latest figures
Average casual labour wage for one day in Zambia
K12.00 (US$1.50) (NWP)
US$3.80 (Journal du Net 2013)*
SNV (2012) Bee products factsheet. Agriculture in Zambia.
Revenue per kg of honey harvested
K4.45 (US$0.56) (NWP)
US$0.45 (Husselman 2009) (North Western Province) US$90.00 (Kancheya 2010) (Northern Province) US$1.00 (SNV 2012) (no region given)
WAINWRIGHT,D. (1989) Socio-economic comparison of beekeeping technologies in Zambia. In Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Cairo, 1988: 360366. IBRA, Cardiff, UK.
SILBERRAD,R.E.M. (1976) Beekeeping in Zambia. Apimondia Publishing House, Bucharest, Romania. WAINWRIGHT,D. (1989) Appropriate beekeeping technology in Central Africa. Newsletter for beekeepers in tropical and sub-tropical countries 14.
WHITE, F. (1983) The vegetation of Africa. UNESCO/AETFAT/UNSO vegetation map of Africa: 20: 1-356. Natural Resources Research, Paris, France.
*This rate is the legal minimum wage in Zambia, set in 2012, and may not represent the predominant average wage
Definitions
Conclusion
Beekeeping system: This refers to the bees, the technology, the management approach and the wider environment which beekeepers manage, use or interact with as they work to secure a harvest of bee products
This analysis is not new. Miombo woodland beekeeping is widely practised in Zambia and in other miombo forest countries such as Angola, Mozambique and Tanzania. Many development projects have proposed to introduce alternative hive types, however bark, log and local-style hives remain prevalent. The miombo woodland beekeeping systems of NWP are productive, yielding 4,000 tonnes of honey in 2010 (SNV 2012). The analysis presented here suggests a method to work out profitability based on understanding of the system as a whole. Central to this is appreciation of the fact that cropping a portion of a large number of hives is by design, and not a sign that the system is unproductive - as some analysts suggest. It is also important to note that there are variable labour costs associated with the yield. This is in contrast to box hive systems where variable labour costs are related to number of colonies managed. When using box hives it is possible to spend labour collecting swarms, hiving swarms, managing and manipulating colonies and, for reasons outside of the control of the beekeepers, the yield from some colonies may be still be low – or in tropical Africa, the colony may abscond or migrate. And yet the labour has already been invested.
Hive occupation percentage: Percentage of sited hives that are occupied by honey bees Cropping: The harvesting of honey comb from a honey bee colony Cropping ratio: The ratio between number of hives harvested and the number of hives occupied/or the number of hives in total. Different people use the term cropping ratio differently, and this must be taken into consideration when comparing data.
Finally it is clear from the analysis presented here that in most miombo woodland beekeeping scenarios it is possible to earn at least the average daily wage for each day spent beekeeping, and the actual wage earned is likely to be above this figure.
Miombo woodland characterised by branched trees and open canopy 8
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The honey industry in South Africa
Celebrated bee tree killed The famous century-old Tualang bee tree at Pedu Lake, Malaysia has featured several times in BfD Journal. Due to its importance to the honey bee ecosystem - as home to generations of Apis dorsata honey bees and sustainably harvested by generations of honey hunters - the tree has remained in place while almost all surrounding forest has been cleared by logging.
Beekeeping in South Africa South Africa has about 100 commercial beekeepers with approximately 80,000 colonies. These beekeepers are responsible for 98% of all the pollination services in South Africa and 60% of the country’s honey harvest. There are also about 1,100 smallscale beekeepers with 35,000 colonies. All these colonies are in frame hives. South Africa is number 33 on the world list of honey producers and is also a big importer of honey: 231,961 tonnes of honey imported annually, mostly from Argentina, China and Zambia. The demand for bee pollination services is growing each year and so is the pressure on honey production. The industry needs at least 60,000 colonies each year for pollination of fruit crops and 20,000 for seed production.
Someone has now debarked the bee tree as ‘revenge’ for highlighting the plight of the honey hunters. This means that the tree will certainly die. A recent TV documentary highlighted the deplorable state of clandestine logging activities around Pedu Lake and it appears that the tree has become a political issue. I have visited this Bee Tree almost every year since 1983, first with Pak Teh Lebah the celebrated honey hunter, and following his death in 2009, with his grandson, Nizam. The tree is a legacy from Pak Teh and its value is far more than dollars alone. It means so much more than honey and bees, and has helped to build camaraderie, friendship, good will and research collaboration from all over the world.
South African Bee Industry Organization (SABIO)’s role SABIO represents all aspects of the honey bee industry in South Africa. It is the custodian of the list of registered beekeepers who are producers of honey or involved with fruit pollination. SABIO caters for the interests of bottlers and packers of honey and other bee products, as well as equipment manufacturers. SABIO is involved in training future beekeepers and the implementation of guidelines for food safety and correct packaging of honey.
It is hard to imagine how ignorance and political rivalry have yielded this incalculable loss: bees, people and trees are all hurt by this insensible act. Dato Dr Makhdzir Mardan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
SABIO also publishes a quarterly journal and organises the Annual Bee Congress for South Africa.
Further reading Bees for Development Journal 83 (2007) Threats to Malaysia’s bee trees.
What is the biggest problem affecting beekeeping in South Africa? There is uncontrolled honey importation. We have a lack of natural food resources for bees to allow expansion of beekeeping operations and to improve honey production.
Bees for Development Journal 35 (1995) How 100 people spent the night under a bee tree.
How can ApiTrade Africa and other international organisations help?
The Bee Tree is the subject of a book for children which featured on the cover of BfDJ 83
By establishing a good and strong trade network within Africa and marketing the unique African honey to the rest of the world. Also by fostering the sharing of skills and good techniques within the continent ensuring the sustainable use of forage for bees and maximised harnessing of bee products. People in Africa must receive proper training and follow up programmes so that beekeeping projects reach the highest success rates of all projects in Africa.
Visit www.beesfordevelopment.org/portal
Honey imports - EU Directives Further to the reports on Fungicide residues bankrupt beekeepers in Vietnam in BfDJ 103 and 104 the follow up EU Directive Decision of 11 March 2013 regarding honey is:
Beekeeping is the best way to create jobs and improve living conditions, especially in Africa, with all its natural bee habitats. ApiTrade Africa and other development partners need to establish a market for the produce.
“Vietnam has submitted a plan for honey to the Commission. That plan provides sufficient guarantees and should be approved.” Vietnam is therefore now included in the list permitting imports to the EU.
And finally? “BEES - The cornerstone of food security for the future.” ApiTrade Africa will be a key player as global leaders consider how to feed the world - with help from the innumerable hard workers that we call the honey bee. I am looking forward to being part of that.
Bosnia Herzegovina is included in the list for the first time.
From An interview with Theunis Engelbrecht, Chairman of SABIO. BfD acknowledge ApiTrade Africa’s The African Honey Magazine (Issue 012, March 2013) as the source of this article.
Further information: http://www.beesfordevelopment.org/ portal/article.php?id=3050
Pitcairn Islands have not provided a plan as required by Article 29 of Directive 96/23/EC and are therefore now removed from the list.
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PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING
Foundation strips for straight combs in top-bar hives Wyatt A Mangum, Mary Washington College, 1301 College Avenue, Fredericksburg VA 22401, USA Keywords: beeswax, colony management, honeycomb, saw kerf, wax dipper
Figure 2: Old brood comb from a top-bar hive built straight and centred on its top-bar. This comb and the one in Figure 1 will fit any of the author’s hives
Combs that are built parallel and straight make hive inspections easier: checking that the queen is laying eggs, or for the presence of pests and diseases is made easier with straight combs. Straight combs are also essential for enabling beekeepers to move combs of brood or honey from strong colonies to weak or starving colonies to save them, or to divide strong colonies. With top-bar hives, wooden comb guides (either wood strips or “V” shaped wedges) have a reputation for not giving straight combs, particularly those wooden comb guides that are in the honey comb area and away from the brood nest. From my studies of USA beekeeping history, beekeepers used these wooden comb guides during the 1870-1890s before foundation sheets became common. Even then, beekeepers complained about wooden comb guides causing crooked combs.
Current day
I manage 200 top-bar hives and need an additional 500-700 top-bars so therefore cannot accommodate a third of new combs being built crooked. All the straight combs in Figures 1 and 2 are typical. To ensure straight combs I use foundation strips as the starter to ensure the precise placement of combs on the top-bars (Figure 3). Besides telling the bees where they must build the comb, foundation strips tend to stop the bees from bulging the top of the honeycomb into the space meant for the next comb (because the next foundation strip is there). Wooden comb guides do not stop the bees from bulging the top of the honeycomb into the space for the next comb (because nothing is under the edge of the next comb guide, just open space). When the bees finish building combs from the foundation strips, the combs are straight, centred on the top-bars, and the upper honeycomb bands are the same thickness. These combs are interchangeable among all hives for management:
Figure 3: The inside of a top-bar hive looking up at the foundation strips. When there is a nectar flow (for comb construction), the bees build their comb straight from these strips: not ignoring them as they may with wooden comb guides and then start building crooked comb similar to frame hive management, but with much less expensive top-bar equipment.
Photos © Wyatt Mangum
The top-bars are flat underneath with a saw kerf (a groove the width of the saw blade) cut down the centre of the bar 1/8 inch (0.32 cm) deep. The foundation strip goes into this groove (Figure 4). The length of the foundation strip depends on the size of the top-bar hive. Do not let the strips touch the sides of the hive as that would
Figure 4: Putting in foundation strips. The saw kerfs (grooves) to the left take the foundation strips
Figure 1: A new comb in a top-bar hive built straight and centred on its top-bar 10
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Figure 5: A close up of the foundation strip and top-bar junction with the melted wax bead appearing as a welder’s seam. The welder’s seam or bead should run along the entire length of the foundation strip and on both sides
Figure 7: Separating the foundation strips before the edges cool too much
encourage the bees to attach the comb to the hive. Let the strip end about 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) from the sides of the hive. Where foundation is scarce, try a 1 inch wide (2.54 cm) strip, but be cautious about making the strips less than 1 inch (2.54 cm). Strips that are too narrow cannot stop the bees from bulging a honeycomb into the space for the next comb: crooked combs would be expected from such narrow foundation strips – width is important.
straight edge to keep a knife straight. Warm the knife near a heat source to make cutting the strips easier, but do not get the blade too hot because it will melt the foundation too much. A pair of knives works well, cutting with one while the other warms near the heat. Three or four sheets of foundation can be cut at one time and the strips separated before the melted edges cool (Figure 7). Put the foundation strips in to the top-bar grooves, keeping them away from the ends of the bars where the strip could touch the sides of the hive. Put about 12 top-bars on a sloped board with a bracket at the lower side to keep the top-bars from sliding off the board (Figure 8). To make sure the bead of melted wax touches the foundation and the top-bar as the wax runs along the bar (in the direction of the board), lift the end of the sloped board to force the melted wax bead against the foundation strips. Pour the melted wax down the grooves, attaching the sides of the foundation strips to the top-bars. With the board sloped from the side and the end, the wax bead flows along a little trough with the top-bar on one side and the foundation strip on the other side. It looks like Figure 9.
Properly attaching the foundation strips to the top-bars is extremely important. When the bees are building the combs, the cluster hangs from the foundation strip so its attachment to the top-bar must be strong. Use melted beeswax to attach foundation strips to the top-bars (not paraffin or other waxes). Specifically a line of melted beeswax needs to run down the groove, melting the foundation into the groove. The line of melted beeswax on both sides of the foundation strip, should weld it into the groove with wax (Figure 5). Melt the wax in a double boiler, (the wax not directly heated by a flame) or with a water jacket (Figure 6). These methods are the proper way to melt wax because melted beeswax is flammable. (Note: always melt wax outdoors away from animals and children.) Cut the foundation sheets into strips using a piece of wood as a
When finished, let down the end of the sloped board and tilt it from the other end. Pour the wax bead down the grooves attaching the
Figure 6: A pair of double boilers on hot plates melting wax: note the double handles, one to the water container and one to the wax container. Turn the handles away from the work area to help prevent accidental spilling. Behind the boilers is a sloping board for attaching foundation strips to the top-bars with melted wax: note the white strip of wood to hold the top-bars on the slope and the excess wax in the catch trough, which can be put back in the boilers
Figure 8: Presentation by the author showing the sloped board tilted from the side and from the end. Tilting the board from the side (marked by the number one and the black arrow) makes the melted wax run down the bar. Tilting the board from the end (marked by the number two and the white arrow) makes the melted wax run against the foundation strip and top-bar in a trough similar to Figure 9
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foundation strips to the top-bars on the other side of the strips. Make sure the bead of melted wax touches the foundation and the top-bar as the wax runs along each bar. Pieces of foundation strips can be fitted together in the grooves (Figure 10), but do not leave gaps between them. The wax will run across the top-bars, and the bees will leave holes in the comb between the pieces. For a wax pouring spout, use the bottom of a small plastic soda bottle, warmed near heat to form a spout. Cut a small slit in the spout and put a knotted string in it to guide the melted wax down the string and onto the foundation strip and top-bar contact junction. The handle is a little flat stick (Figure 11). Be careful not to break foundation strips because bees can use partly broken strips. For foundation strips with some broken out, put the top-bar between unbroken foundation strips or between straight combs in the hive. The unbroken foundation strips or straight combs help to keep the comb straight over the place with the broken-out foundation strip.
Figure 9: Lifting the end of the sloped board makes the wax run down a little trough. The wax runs against the foundation strip and top-bar, sealing the two together, as the wax goes down the top-bar. With the end lifted, the bead of wax cannot slip off the foundation strip as when only the side of the sloped board is lifted
With the method described in this article, the top-bars and their grooves are easier to cut than the “V” top-bars. The outcome is better bee management with straight combs and more productive colonies. To see my top-bar hive apiaries visit www.tbhsbywam.com Acknowledgment The author thanks Suzanne Sumner for her comments on the manuscript. More articles on top-bar hive beekeeping at www.beesfordevelopment.org/portal
Figure 10: Piecing foundation strips together in a groove and keeping them close together
Figure 11: The author’s homemade wax dipper made from a small soda bottle. For the dipper size, bigger is not really better because some of the wax hardens before it gets poured. Beekeepers must customise their own dippers from local materials, and perhaps this one can be a starting point
Top-Bar Hive Beekeeping: wisdom and pleasure combined by the author. Reviewed in BfDJ 106 and available for purchase at www.beesfordevelopment.org/catalog
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More on Warré’s The People’s Hive
sometimes struggle to achieve the precise measurements needed with the top-bars and also to maintain ‘one bar, one comb’ and subsequently the moveable comb technology can quickly be lost. In Warré’s People’s hive this need not matter as a whole box of honey can still be harvested without disturbing the brood nest. On the downside we note that it is the norm in tropical Africa for hives to be horizontal rather than vertical. It may be that in hot climates bees find it easier to stay cool in a horizontal hive and vice versa in colder climates. We know of no research which has proved this to be the case but it could be one explanation why frame hives are not preferred by tropical African Apis mellifera.
Gerhard Pape, Ermelo, Netherlands writes: The article about Warré’s People’s hives in Nigeria (BfDJ 105, December 2012) interested me. I have built and managed Warré People’s hives for several years alongside standard Dutch and Segeberger hives. It is nice to have a colony building naturally and to see also the difference in Varroa behaviour: this is almost the same as for our local/regional square skep hives. In tropical areas I think of the Warré People’s hive as a vertical top-bar hive.
We suggest that you investigate the usefulness of Warré’s People’s hives in Ghana and we would be interested to hear about your experiences. Gerhard Pape: I agree that Warré’s People’s hive is best managed on a box by box method and that the exact dimensions are less important working on this basis. Perhaps the height of the boxes could be of some importance considering the fixation of combs to the underlying boxes of top-bars. With respect to this I tend to make the boxes between 15-20 cm maximum. In shallow frames the lower frame bar is usually left free if starting with foundation strips. Simeoni in Kenya* mentions that splitting a swarm cluster by means of frames with foundation does affect the acceptance of a new hive.
Earlier this year I visited a company in Ghana that had recently started beekeeping as a commercial business and has fundamental choices to make regarding the type of hives to use. There is of course the local top-bar hive with a great variety of top-bars widths ranging from 2-5 cm! There is also the remainder of earlier projects with the Saltpond hive but no frame hives. I would like to bring the experiences of using the Warré People’s hive in Nigeria into consideration. My only alteration on the original design would be nine top-bars instead of eight. Also some change in the cover as I think the moist absorption unit can be left. (Sorry, but I use a plastic cover to look inside. This in turn is covered with good insulation to prevent condensed water falling in.)
The question of whether African bees prefer building horizontally instead of vertically is indeed interesting. My opinion is that building preference is not the issue. On one of my visits to Ghana I found a baobab tree with 12 colonies and the bees had built their combs in a variety of ways. (see picture below.). Bees are often found in hollow walls, which are also vertical. One of the reasons for good hive occupation could be that a vertical Warré’s People’s hive with good cover does not catch as much sun as a horizontal top-bar hive.
BfD: It matters not how many top-bars are used or their width if one accepts that Warré People’s hive is managed box by box rather than comb by comb, which means that the hive need not be maintained as a moveable-comb hive. Some Warré People’s hive beekeepers never manipulate individual combs therefore it is not significant if cross-combing or attachments occur. All manipulations, management and harvesting are undertaken only at the box level. We perceive this as a significant advantage of the Warré People’s hive compared to top-bar hives. Novice beekeepers
There is much for us to discover in beekeeping and we will: it just takes time and a clear mind. *ernest simeoni @africanbees
Photo © Gerhard Pape
Honey bees build comb in many different ways (Ghana)
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Recent Research
Synergistic effects of non-Apis bees and honey bees for pollination services
Pesticide combination affects bees’ ability to learn
Research published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society shows that when wild bees forage together with honey bees in almonds, the behaviour of honey bees changes, resulting in the pollination effectiveness of a single honey bee being greater than in orchards where non-Apis bees were absent. Fifty species of wild bees were identified in the study including bumble bees, small carpenter bees, sweat bees, digger bees, mining bees and blue orchard bees. “These findings highlight the importance of conserving pollinators and the natural habitats they rely on”, said lead author Claire Brittain.
Studies have highlighted an impact on bees’ ability to learn following exposure to a combination of pesticides commonly used in agriculture. Dr Christopher Connolly (University of Dundee, UK) and his team investigated the impact of two common pesticides: neonicotinoid used on crops, and coumaphos used in honey bee colonies to kill the Varroa mite. Intact bees’ brains were exposed to pesticides in the laboratory at levels predicted to occur following exposure in the wild, and brain activity was recorded. They found that both types of pesticide target the same area of the bee brain involved in learning, causing a loss of function. If both pesticides were used in combination, the effect was greater.
With increasing global demand for pollination-dependent crops, and continued challenges that limit the supply of honey bees, such strategies to increase pollination efficiency offer exciting potential for more sustainable pollination in the future.
The study is the first to show that these pesticides have a direct impact on pollinator brain physiology. It was prompted by the work of Dr Geraldine Wright and Dr Sally Williamson at Newcastle University (UK) who found that combinations of these same pesticides affected learning and memory in bees. Their studies established that when honey bees had been exposed to combinations of these pesticides for 4 days, as many as 30% failed to learn or performed poorly in memory tests. Again, the experiments mimicked levels that could be seen in the wild, this time by feeding a sugar solution mixed with appropriate levels of pesticides.
“We plan to investigate the mechanism behind the increased effectiveness of honey bees when other bees are present,” Brittain said. “We are also going to be looking at how to enhance floral resources for wild bees in almond orchards. We now know that honey bees move more between orchard rows when non-Apis bees are around and we need to study the reason why they move: one investigation will look at the chemical footprints that the bees are leaving on the flowers”. Kathy Keatley Garvey, Communications Specialist, UC Davis Department of Entomology
Dr Wright said: “Pollinators perform sophisticated behaviour while foraging that requires them to learn and remember floral traits associated with food. Disruption in this important function has profound implications for honey bee colony survival, because bees that cannot learn will not be able to find food.”
www.ucdavis.edu
NOTICE BOARD
The researchers expressed concerns about the use of pesticides that target the same area of the brain of insects and the potential risk of toxicity to non-target insects. Moreover, they said that exposure to different combinations of pesticides that act at this site may increase this risk. Dr Connolly said: “Much discussion of the risks posed by the neonicotinoids has raised important questions of their suitability for use in our environment. However, little consideration has been given to the miticidal pesticides introduced directly into hives to protect the bees from Varroa. We find that both have negative impact on honey bee brain function. These studies highlight potential dangers to pollinators of continued exposure to pesticides that target the insect nervous system and the importance of identifying combinations of pesticides that could profoundly impact pollinator survival”.
FUNDING FROM FAO TeleFood Special Fund Beekeepers’ groups and associations may apply for 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. See www.fao.org 1% for Development Fund Small grants enable community based beekeeping projects in developing countries to get off the ground. Applicants must define clear objectives and describe how they are to be attained. Email One-Per-Cent-Fund@FAO.org
This research is part of the Insect Pollinators Initiative, joint-funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), DEFRA , the Natural Environment Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust under the auspices of the Living with Environmental Change partnership.
CENTENARY CONGRATULATIONS E H Thorne (Beehives) Ltd celebrating 100 years of making quality beekeeping equipment. See www.thorne.co.uk TREATMENT FREE Organic beekeeping in Los Angeles, USA, and branches starting in other cities. We rely on observation and natural practices to keep our bees thriving rather than pesticides, chemicals, or treatments of any kind. Want to know more www.backwardsbeekeepers.com
Rob Dawson, Head of News, BBSRC, Swindon, UK Cholinergic pesticides cause mushroom body neuronal inactivation in honey bees. Nature Communications. From 27 March 2013 at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2648
GRANTS TO SCIENTISTS IFS Research Grants are for citizens of a developing country who are scientists under 40 years of age, with at least a Master’s or equivalent degree or research experience and attached to a university, national research institution or research-orientated NGO in a developing country. See www.ifs.se
Exposure to multiple cholinergic pesticides impairs olfactory learning and memory in honeybees. J Exp Biol Advance Online Articles. From 7 February 2013 at http://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.083931
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Bees for Development Journal 107
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
PHOTO © Selman Nigusu
ETHIOPIA
Students at the Agricultural Technical & Vocational College learn how to construct top-bar hives using locally available materials. We cultivate sunflowers as a major honey plant to increase yield. Students are instructed to monitor and record honey yield per hectare. Selman Nigusu, Head of Beekeeping Training Centre, Alage
Two hundred beekeepers in the east of Guinea Bissau are benefitting from a project which in its first year produced three tonnes of honey. The project ended in May with the inauguration of a photography exhibition and debate on Beekeeping in the context of rural development in Bissau. The project received €620,000 (US$812,000) (comprising 75% EU, 17% Portuguese Government and 8% Guinean Government funding). It was promoted by the Union of Portuguese-Language Capitals, the National Federation of Portuguese Beekeepers, the Bragança Polytechnic Institute and Agrarian School and Guinean NGO Aprodel. Source: www.macauhub.com.mo/en/
TAIWAN
Wu Chao-Sheng still recalls his shock when inspecting his bees on a cold April day in 2007 he opened his hives to find only 60% of the bees alive. For 30 years he has run the family business and is currently President of the Taiwan Beekeepers Association. He acknowledges he was not among those hardest hit: other bee farmers saw their annual honey production cut in
NIGERIA PHOTO © Emmanuel Abeh
GUINEA BISSAU
half. Worries were rekindled by reports of diminishing bee populations in the USA with nearly half of bee colonies wiped out in 2012 and neonicotinoid pesticides (commonly used in Taiwan) as possibly the main culprit. Taiwan’s bee situation appears more stable than the USA, but local scientists are worried about the potential threat to the country’s agriculture and eco-systems because of the lack of systematic data, research, and general knowledge related to bees in the country. Taiwan has over NT$50 billion (US$1.7; €1.3 billion) of bee-pollinated produce including apple, Brassica sp, longan, melon and orange. The Council of Agriculture (COA) statistics quote the number of bee colonies in Taiwan in 2011 at 103,870 and honey production rising by 85% to 15,089 tonnes. Trials have begun in co-operation with the COA to help beekeepers apply organic pesticides made of oxalic acid and thymol to improve bees’ living environment. Chien Wu-yen, owner of the Move-Bee farm in New Taipei said his bee populations have been relatively stable in the past few years, although a third of his bees ‘disappear’ on farms that have been sprayed with pesticides. Wu Chao-Sheng concluded that the beekeeping industry has had to rely largely on traditional wisdom but hopefully now beekeepers, scientists and government officials can establish a stronger partnership to address issues more effectively. Source: Focus Taiwan
ROMANIA
Beekeepers asked authorities to adopt a firm position in forbidding the use of pesticides on melliferous crops including corn, oilseed rape and sunflower. President of APIMONDIA, Gilles Ratia, visited Romania in April and accompanied by Ioan Fetea, President of the Romanian Beekeeping Association, requested the Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Daniel Constantin, to ban the use of neonicotinoids because they are dangerous not only for bees, but also the environment and biodiversity. Source: Romanian Business News
We used materials from the Resource Box sponsored by BfD Trust to compile a teaching manual and 30 people (men, women and school children) attended our Poverty reduction through beekeeping event in Akpodim. Rev Emmanuel Abe, Rural People Self-help Committee, Mbaise, Imo State 15
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LOOK AHEAD BRAZIL
I° Congresso de Apicultura e Meliponicultura da Amazônia 20-22 October 2013, Palmas Further details to be confirmed
COSTA RICA
VIII MesoAmerican Congress of Native Bees 26-31 August 2013, Héredia Further details www.una.ac.cr
UK
IRELAND
Conwy Honey Fair 13 September 2013, North Wales Further details www.conwybeekeepers.org.uk
Irish Beekeepers Summer Course 21-26 July 2013, Gormanston Further details www.irishbeekeeping.ie
National Honey Show 24-26 October 2013, Weybridge Further details www.honeyshow.co.uk
UKRAINE
APIMONDIA 43rd International Apicultural Congress 29 September - 4 October 2013, Kiev Further details see page 17
3rd International Symposium on MultiStrata Agroforestry Systems with perennial crops 16-20 September 2013, Turrialba Further details contact@symposium-multistrata2013.org
Congreso Binacional de Apicultura Uruguay/Brazil 16 August 2013, Rivera Further details congresobinacionalapicola@gmail.com
MALAYSIA
USA
2nd Global Conference on Entomology 8-12 November 2013, Sarawak Further details www.gce2013.com
MEXICO
URUGUAY
Pacific Northwest Treatment-Free Beekeeping Conference 26-18 July 2013, Pacific University, Oregon Further details www.blisshoneybees.org/events.html
20° Congreso Internacional de Actualización Apícola 26-28 June 2013, Pablo de Villavicencio Further details www.amverasc.com/index.htm
2nd International Conference on Pollinator Biology, Health and Policy 14-17 August 2013, Penn State University Further details www. agsci.psu.edu/pollinator-conference
NIGERIA
ZIMBABWE
Biodynamic beekeeping in the tropics for poverty alleviation 2-9 June 2013, Umudike Further details www.mouau.edu.ng/media/conferences/ dynamicbeekeeping
SOUTH KOREA
4th ApiTrade Africa Event 6-11 October 2014, Harare Further details www.apitradeafrica.org/apiexpo-africa-2014
LEARN AHEAD
APIMONDIA 44th International Apicultural Congress 15-20 September 2015, Deajeon Further details will appear here
BRAZIL
TURKEY
CHILE
12th Asian Apicultural Association Conference 2014 Further details will appear here
Manejo de Abelhas Nativas sem Ferrao 26-29 August 2013, Tefé Further details www.mamiraua.org.br
MEXICO
Diploma in Organic Apiculture and Agroecology Two sections: 8-13 July Tapachula; 26 July – 3 August San Cristóbal de Las Casas Further details www.ecosur.mx/abejas
UK
Beginner’s Natural Beekeeping Course June 2013, Embercombe Further details www.embercombe.co.uk/bees
BfD UK Courses Strengthening livelihoods in developing countries through beekeeping 20 September 2013 Monmouth Sustainable beekeeping 21-22 September 2013 Ragman’s Lane Permaculture Farm, Gloucestershire Further details www.beesfordevelopment.org
BfD Beekeepers Safaris
2013 Vietnam 2-13 September Grenada 14-24 October 2014 Trinidad and Tobago 3-13 February Turkey 14-26 June Further details www.beesfordevelopment.org
Diploma in Organic Beekeeping July, September, November 2013 Further details cetbiobio@gmail.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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BOOK SHELF
Buy these titles at www.beesfordevelopment.org/catalog or at our shop in Monmouth, UK
Natural beekeeping - organic approaches to modern apiculture Ross Conrad 2013 revised and expanded edition 285 pages £26.50 (US$40; €31) C300 A wonderful, thoughtful and original book. Ross Conrad is motivated by the wider organic principles of fairness, and with great regard to our common environment, has proved that it is possible to keep honey bees in the USA without relying on synthetic chemical compounds. The original, practical information given in this text arrives directly from Ross Conrads’s own experience of running an organic apiary in Vermont. A very valuable guide to natural beekeeping, full of reference for bees, and excellent practical and feasible advice for beekeepers. See our online store for the new DVD of a workshop by Conrad presenting his comprehensive survey of natural hive management (running time 3 hours 13 minutes) price £19 (US$27; €20) VID50
Keep bees without fuss or chemicals Joe Bleasdale 2012 54 pages £7 (US$11; €8) B300 A modest but excellent book written for people who would like to keep bees but think they have insufficient time and resources to do so. Joe Bleasdale describes a natural and simple approach to beekeeping that can be summarised: allow bees to swarm, do not treat the colony with chemicals, and open the hive only when necessary. This short book describes simply the essential operations that a beekeeper needs to know: an encouraging guide for any beginner beekeeper. It is written primarily for a UK readership, but is widely applicable.
Natural beekeeping with the Warré hive David Heaf 2013 105 pages £15 (US$23; €18) H810 Another excellent book encouraging the keeping of bees in a more natural way than has been practised in conventional beekeeping during the past century or so. The French priest Abbé Emile Warré (1867-1951) invented The People’s Hive, and this is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity, used increasingly by thoughtful beekeepers around the world. This new book provides all the information needed to build Warré’s The People’s Hive and to obtain and keep bees in it successfully and naturally. Very highly recommended.
Bees and wasps James Maclaine 2013 32 pages Hardback £5.99 (US$10; €7) M300 An Usbourne beginners book designed to introduce children to the world of bees and wasps: the differences between species, life cycles, pollination, solitary and colony life, communication, honey production and nest building are explained with plenty of photographs and a very easy to read text. On DVD
Top-bar beekeeping – organic practices for honeybee health Les Crowder and Heather Harrell (50 minutes) £11 (US$29; €18) VID51 The excellent book was reviewed in BfDJ 105. Now the DVD is available in which Les Crowder shares his 30 years’ experience of working with bees in top-bar hives with a low-stress approach and no chemical inputs. Prices in US$ and € are approximate and for guidance only
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Beekeeping training for farmers in the Himalayas Min Bahadur Gurung, Uma Partap Nabin C T D Shrestha, Harish K Sharma, Nurul Islam and Nar Bahadur Tamang 2012 178 pages This training manual and curriculum relates to frame hive beekeeping in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. A wide range of stakeholders, trainers, government organisations, NGOs, associations and entrepreneurs were engaged in the identification of curriculum needs and in development and testing of this curriculum. The manual covers the full range of beekeepingrelated topics, including the use of bees for crop pollination; production of honey, wax and other hive products; honey quality standards; and using value chain and market management to increase benefits for beekeepers. Also included is information on indigenous honey bees, gender and equity, integrated pest management, and bee-related policy. The focus is on participatory, hands-on training, with clear explanations and many illustrations. Available on line at www.icimod.org/publications Thanks to ICIMOD printed copies are available for distribution with BfD resource boxes to recipients in Asia.
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Bees for Development Beekeepers’ Safaris
Fantastic • Friendly • Informative 2013 VIETNAM 2-13 September GRENADA 14-24 October 2014 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 3-13 February TURKEY 14-26 June
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