Bees for Development Journal 109
Japan’s Association for International Collaboration of Agriculture and Forestry (JAICAF) sent an expert team to collaborate with the Beekeepers Association of Mongolia and to support improved productivity and better income generation for the beekeeping sector.
bee products to access the international market. Course participants enjoyed his demonstration of beeswax candle making. Dr Hoshiba also visited apiaries in Shaamar Sum and DarkhanSelenge Region with Professor Togtokhbayar, to inspect hives and talk with the beekeepers. They were much interested to hear his advice on frame layout aiming at higher bee density and higher honey productivity.
The Japanese experts and Professor Togtokhbayar Norovsambuu from the Mongolian State University of Agriculture worked mainly in Shaamar Sum (county), and Selenge Province, where the Association has 51 family members with 2,000 colonies. About 100 beekeepers attended their seminar from all over DarkhanSelenge and other regions. Professor Jun Nakamura from the Honeybee Science Research Center at Tamagawa University talked about beekeepers’ awareness for the conservation of their environment and biodiversity, which are essential for highquality production of honey and other bee products. Dr Hidehiro Hoshiba, former professor of Tamagawa University, focused on practical techniques of colony management, honey harvesting and processing, as well as on the quality management of honey to meet international standards. Mr Ryoichi Udagawa, Business Executive of Tree of Life Inc, signposted strategies for Mongolian
One month later, Mr L Oyunbaatar, Chief of the Beekeepers’ Union reported to JAICAF that each group had started to trial the new way with a few hives. Finding good results, every union member had adopted the frame layout, and had gained more oviposition and higher honey production. He said: “Every colony shows an improved condition. I have not received any bad reports. We call it the Japanese Technique, and are teaching it to our neighbouring beekeepers”. The development of the beekeeping sector could give a boost for implementation of the new government’s environment protection policies. JAICAF will publish a guide for Mongolian beekeepers written by Dr Hoshiba with Professor Togtokhbayar.
Plenty of forage for honey bees in Mongolia
RECENT RESEARCH
bumblebees were viable and could infect bumblebees and honey bees. The research found commercially imported bumblebees could interact with wild bees and honey bees, spreading disease by visiting the same flowers. Co-author of the study Professor William Hughes, (University of Sussex), said: “Many bee species are already showing significant population declines due to multiple factors. The introduction of more or new parasite infections will at a minimum exacerbate this, and could quite possibly drive declines.”
Plea over bee import control Each year 40,000-50,000 commercially reared bumblebee colonies are imported into the UK to pollinate greenhouse crops such as tomatoes, to boost pollination of other plants such as strawberries and for use in gardens. However DNA testing of 48 colonies of buff-tailed bumblebees purchased from European producers found that 77% of the colonies were carrying parasites. All but one of 25 samples of pollen supplied with the colonies as food for the bees were infected with parasites as the study in the Journal of Applied Ecology showed.
Source www.heraldscotland.com Citation: Graystock, P., Yates, K., Evison, S.E.F., Darvill, B., Goulson, D., Hughes, W.O.H. (2013) The Trojan hives: pollinator pathogens, imported and distributed in bumblebee colonies. Journal of Applied Ecology. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12134 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.12134/full
The team from the universities of Leeds, Stirling and Sussex (UK) found that the parasites carried by the commercially reared 9
