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Box hive on Ficus supports. is an excellent shade tree and a very attractive red flowered ornamental. Its leaves are fed to animals.
Both these trees are used in two ways as living hive supports: 1. Two large stems (10cm or more in diameter) with a suitable Y shape are cut and placed in the ground about 0.5 to 1 metre apart so that the crotches are about 1 metre above the ground. Round traditional hives or top-bar hives can be placed firmly inthe Y. 2. Two large stems (10cm or more in diameter) are placed in the ground about 2m apart to root. When firmly established, top-bar hives are sus-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Apis florea in Sudan I have been interested to hear of the introduction to Khartoum of Apis florea (see Newsletter No 8, March 1986) but also very concerned. For the following reasons I think its presence may present problems: — 1.
risk that A. florea may have with it diseases (viruses, bacteria, brought even mites) to which Apis mellifera may There
is the
be susceptible.
2.
3.
Though A.florea may exploit the flora at different times of day from A. mellifera and to some extent a different range of plant species, there will inevitably be an overlap and degree of competition for forage that can only be detrimental to A. mellifera and its honey yields, and to other native pollinators.
Most important, beekeeping development in Africa has enough problems with out
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Traditional hives on Ficus supports showing shading effect of small branches. pended between the living posts by means of wires. This method is necessary where ants must be prevented from attacking the hives. In a carefully designed apiary, one living post may serve to suspend several hives in different directions. In both systems, the living supports grow small branches and leaves which serve to shade the hives from the sun. These branches are cut off once or twice a year to prevent them from growing too big. The cut material may be fed to animals or used as garden mulch. The apiaries are often fenced using the same species to protect them from large animals. Trees of the genus Ficus and Eryth-
the introduction of another species of honeybee which is difficult to manage and produces only very small quantities of honey. The widespread presence of A. florea would have to be acknowledged in
beekeeping programs and this would only serve to confuse people and detract from the development of beekeeping with A. mellifera. I am not surprised at the interest that has arisen in this incident and how the A. florea made their journey but I am surprised that no one has commented on whether it is a good or
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colony of A. florea was introduced to Dhofar (southern Oman) (in 1980?; reported to me by Jan Karpowicz) from northern Oman, in a packing case and thus had survived a 1 000km road journey across the desert. I advocated that this colony was destroyed, particularly for reasons (2) and (3) above, and fortunately an Omani destroyed it on his own initiative to get the
a bad thing.
rina are found in many tropical parts of the world and both are traditionally used as living fences. They could be readily adopted as living hive supports, as could any other suitable species with the same properties. would like to hear from anyone who knows of other species being used in this way or who can offer improvements on the technology. |
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Trevor Chandler is a consultant specialising in appropriate, environmentally based land and resource use. Presently based in Canada, where he also teaches ecology, he is widely experienced in apiculture and agroforestry in the tropics.
honey, so the ‘‘problem"’ was solved! I do not expect the ‘‘problem’’ of A. florea in Africa would be anywhere near as severe as the problem of A. mellifera (from Africa) being introduced to South America (but who would have predicted the severity of that problem?). Nevertheless it is highly likely that A. florea will spread over time into other parts of Sudan and Africa und I would therefore strongly recommend that efforts are made to destroy the colonies that are now spreading in
Khartoum. Unintentional plant and animal introductions on the whole have little to commend them and it would be far better if A. florea is ever needed in Africa that it is introduced on a controlled basis from genetic stock that has been selected for the purpose.
Dr Robert Whitcombe, Planning Committee for Development and Environment in the Southern Region, PO Box 19781, Salalah, Oman
