Bees for Development Journal 121 December 2016
Dear friends
The beekeeping techniques used in simple, natural beekeeping allow honey bee populations to evolve and to survive well. Indeed, on pages 9 – 13 of this Journal you can read about beekeeping in the rainforest of South West Ethiopia and recent work done by us for the international cosmetic company,
Issue 121: Dec 2016/Jan 2017 In this issue
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Inside information......................... 2 Darwinian Beekeeping................. 3 Bee Audacious .......................... 4-8 Honey trade conserves forests in Ethiopia................................ 9-13 FAO News....................................14 Apimondia News.........................15 Bob Malichi .................................16 News, Look Ahead................. 17, 19 Bookshelf.....................................18 Bees for Development 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 Works to assist beekeepers in developing countries.
The Body Shop, to confirm for them that the beekeepers are harvesting honey and beeswax in highly sustainable ways, and indeed helping to safeguard the precious rainforest. We have argued many times for careful use of beekeeping vocabulary! We encourage an end to the use of unhelpful terms, ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ beekeeping, descriptions that are widely, inaccurately, and unscientifically used elsewhere. We are delighted now to welcome a new term to our beekeeping vocabulary: Darwinian beekeeping. Professor Tom Seeley described this concept, at the Bee Audacious gathering which took place in California in December. It is a perfect, scientific description of the simple, natural beekeeping that is practised by many readers of this Journal. We might even say that it is traditional! Nicola Bradbear Director, Bees for Development
TECA FAO discussions teca.fao.org
Adulteration of honey 14 April to 7 May Moderated by Etienne Bruneau, President of the Technology and Quality Commission of Apimondia, Head of CARI asbl, Centre for Beekeeping Research and Information, Belgium.
Simplified field methods for diagnosing bee diseases
3 July to 7 August Moderated by Giovanni Formato, Head of the Beekeeping Laboratory, at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale (Regional Institute for Animal Diseases), Latium and Tuscany Italy. These discussions are at Beekeeping Exchange Group at www.teca.fao.org
Photo © Bees for Development
For many years now Bees for Development has been promoting the concept of simple, natural beekeeping as practised today in many countries worldwide. In these pages, we have described how honey and beeswax harvested from forest beekeeping meet the world’s highest criteria for these products - because the honey bee populations are healthy and, because beekeepers never treat their bees with medicines, the honey and beeswax are always free from any residues of these medicines - a problem that besets much of the world’s industrialised beekeeping.
Bees for Development Trust gratefully acknowledge Charles Hayward Foundation, The Daylesford Foundation, Eva Crane Trust, E.H. Thorne Ltd, The Waterloo Foundation, and the many groups and individuals who support our work. Copyright You are welcome to translate and/or reproduce items appearing in Bees for Development Journal (BfDJ) as part of our Information Service. Permission is given on the understanding that BfDJ and author(s) are acknowledged, BfD contact details are provided in full, and you send us a copy of the item or the website address where it is used.
Bees for development 1 Agincourt Street Monmouth NP25 3DZ, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1600 714848 info@beesfordevelopment.org www.beesfordevelopment.org 2
Cover picture Paulos Makos (left) teaches Biniyam Abebe, BfD’s Research Coordinator, about the large and beautifullymade log hives utilised by Mejengir beekeepers in forests of south west Ethiopia. With the roof in place, this hive will be suspended high in a tree, ready to become occupied by a wild honey bee colony.
