Bees for development
JOURNAL
No 123
• APIS CERANA • WILD HONEY • ORGANIC HONEY • UGANDA • VIETNAM
The Journal for sustainable beekeeping 1
July 2017
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Dear friends There are many factors causing decline in bee populations, and these include habitat loss and nutritional stress, while the role of pesticides in bee decline is ferociously contested between environmentalists, agriculturalists, and industry lobbyists. As we go to press important research concerning the effect of neonicotinoid pesticides is published by the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology1. Neonicotinoids (or ‘Neonics’ for short) are neurotoxin insecticides developed in the 1990s which are now the biggest-selling type, widely used in agriculture and horticulture. Neonics are sprayed on to leaves, watered into the soil, or used as a coating for seeds. They are designed to kill insect pests which feed on plants, and they work systemically, which means that they are present throughout all the tissues of a plant, including its sap, nectar, and pollen. They are persistent: once in the soil they remain there for years, and they are highly toxic to aquatic life. The research findings now published in Science add to the accumulating body of evidence suggesting that neonics contribute to the decline in
Issue 123 July 2017 In this issue
page
Strong on defence – movers and shakers, shakers and bakers......... 3 Support for beekeepers in Vietnam........................................ 6 Stingless bees conference............ 7 Money from honey on Mount Elgon, Uganda.............................. 8 Notice Board................................10 News............................................11 Wild honey harvest......................14 Locally certified organic beekeeping in Mwingi, Kenya ....16 Bookshelf.....................................18 Look Ahead..................................19 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 10 for ways to pay Readers in developing countries may apply for a sponsored subscription. Apply online or use the form on page 20.
bee populations. The US$3m field study was funded by the chemical companies Bayer CropScience and Syngenta which produce neonics, and took place at 33 sites, each of around 60 hectares, in Germany, Hungary and UK. The study considered prevalence of bee disease and landscape quality, colony growth rate, worker mortality and overwinter survival. Three bee species were exposed to crops of oilseed rape treated with seed coatings containing the neonic clothianidin from Bayer CropScience, or Syngenta’s thiamethoxam. The researchers found that exposure to treated crops reduced overwintering success of honey bee colonies in two of the three countries. In Hungary colony numbers fell by 24% in the following spring. In the UK honey bee colony survival was very low, and lowest where bees fed on clothianidin-treated oilseed rape in the previous year. No harmful effects on overwintering honey bees were found in Germany. Lower reproductive success – reflected in queen numbers of bumblebee Bombus terrestris and egg production in solitary bee Osmia bicornis – was linked with increasing levels of neonicotinoid residues in the
nests of these wild bee species in all three countries. According to lead author Dr Ben Woodcock: “The neonicotinoids caused a reduced capacity for the three bee species to establish new populations in the following year.” He suggested that the differing impact on honey bees between countries may be associated with factors including the availability of alternative flowering resources for bees to feed on in the farmed landscape, as well as general colony health. Bayer and Syngenta have both dismissed the research findings as simplistic. In 2013 the EU banned the use of neonics. This will be debated again this year and based on latest evidence, must be continued.
Dr Nicola Bradbear Director, Bees for Development Woodcock, B A, Bullock, J M, Shore, R F, Heard, M S, Pereira, M G, Redhead, J, Ridding, L, Dean, H, Sleep, D, Henrys, P, Peyton, J, Hulmes, S, Hulmes, L, Sárosspataki, M, Saure, C & Pywell, R F. Countryspecific effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on honeybees and wild bees, Science, VOL 356, ISSUE 6345. 1
Read the paper online: http://science.sciencemag. org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aaa1190
Bees for Development Works to assist beekeepers in developing countries. Bees for Development Trust gratefully acknowledge: Charles Hayward Foundation, Didymus Trust, E H Thorne Ltd., Eva Crane Trust, Hub Cymru Africa, Stroud Buzz Club, The Waterloo Foundation, Welsh Government. 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
Cover picture: A giant hornet Vespa tropica attacks Asian honey bees Apis cerana © IBRA reproduced with permission from editors of The Journal of Apicultural Research
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Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Strong on defence
– movers and shakers, shakers and bakers W S Robinson, Casper College, USA In USA in October 1675, the Wampanoag tribal leader known to European settlers as King Philip was waging war against the encroaching Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, USA. Roger Williams wrote to the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony about one aspect of the famed chief’s military strategy: “Philip’s great design is... to draw... your forces... into such places as are full of long grasses, flags, sedge etc and to surround them with fire, smoke and bullets.” The Asian honey bee Apis cerana (which ranges from India to Japan and is the third-smallest of nine recognised honey bee species) uses a similar defensive tactic, known as ‘heat-balling’ against predatory hornets. Entomologist Masato Ono and his colleagues at Tamagawa University in Tokyo first reported the behaviour in 1987 in the journal Experientia. Guard bees at the entrance of their hive, under attack from giant hornets including Vespa mandarinia, retreat to the recesses of their dark cavity. The voracious hornets, six times the bees’ size, are drawn in behind. Stings are useless against these heavily armoured intruders.
WS Robinson teaches a variety of biology classes at Casper College in Casper, Wyoming, USA. His research interests include the migratory habits of giant honey bees, defences of the Asian honey bee Apis cerana against predatory hornets, and mating behaviour of an Ecuadoran parasitic wasp. Instead, the guard bees, and other worker bees that they recruit by releasing chemical alarm pheromones, surround the hornets in a seething ball, up to five hundred bees per hornet. They vibrate their wing muscles to generate heat. Temperatures inside the balls can reach 47°C, hot enough to bake the hornets - but not the bees - to death. Carbon dioxide generated in the process also weakens and smothers the enemy. Apis cerana, like its European counterpart Apis mellifera is a cavity nesting species building multiple, verticallyhanging wax combs within a dark cavity such as a hollow tree. The cavity and its single, narrow, guardable entrance is the hive bees’ primary defence against
Photo © The International Bee Research Association. Reproduced with the permission of the editors of the Journal of Apicultural Research
A group of Vespa velutina hornets is left behind on a mango branch after a swarm of Asian honey bees has departed.
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marauders. Many other Asian honey bee species nest in the open, covering a single exposed wax comb with a blanket of bees. Whether it is a cavity with multiple combs or a single exposed comb, a multitude of hungry animals are drawn to the brimming cornucopia of a bee colony: protein and fats from thousands of adult, larval, and pupal bee bodies; stored pollen (rich in protein and fats); and the carbohydrate energy burst and long-term sugar source available from stored nectar and honey. A peculiar twist on defence of the cavity entrance was recently discovered in Vietnam by entomologist Gard Otis of the University of Guelph in Canada, and biologist Heather Mattila of Wellesley College, Massachusetts, along with colleagues Hanh Duc Pham, Lien Thi Phuong Nguyen, and Olivia Knight, in research supported by the National Geographic Society. They observed a new means by which Apis cerana prevents attacks from Vespa soror, another giant hornet: “Worker bees search for, collect, and then plaster animal dung (and other ‘filth’ substances, such as urine, soap scum, and mud) around their colony entrances to thwart attack. Collection of dung and other filth was induced only after visitation by Vespa soror and rates of ‘spotting’ varied across colonies. Wasps were less inclined to land and chew on hive entrances that were covered with filth spots, preventing predator access to the inside of the nest.”
the biggest hornet in the world, is twice that size. They can easily rout the much smaller bees by direct invasion of the hive. Balling is an insufficient defence against a massive attack by these wasps. At certain times, groups within the colony emerge, either as reproductive swarms or because of food shortage or intense pressure from parasites or predators. Sometimes, an entire colony leaves to surround predators in the open and then flee. Heat-balling is just one of many strategies colonies use when they are on the move as swarms, which was the case with the bees I studied recently in Thailand. Under attack by hornets, a resting swarm, as it hangs from a tree limb, may form a ‘tail’ of 40-100 bees dangling well below the main body of the swarm. It may also form an ‘arm’, a phalanx of bees extending out on the branches. Hornets are drawn to these extensions perhaps because the smaller number of bees is less imposing and seemingly more vulnerable. The small force acts as a decoy, drawing attention away from the heart of the colony, and its queen, and from foraging bees as they fly out and back. Occasionally, the small decoy force manages to lure a hornet in and heat-ball it. Some hornets for example Vespa velutina act as goaltenders. They hover about the entrance to a hive, snatching arriving and departing forager bees in mid-air. In the fight against these hawkers, the entrance becomes a detriment, a focal point of attack. Bees flee their hives and hang in trees as exposed swarms. Vespa velutina is then at a disadvantage. It is faced with foragers coming and going at all angles. The foragers return to the swarm in rapid, unpredictable flight. As they depart the swarm, they explode out of the protective mantle of bees, all of which are on high alert, shaking their abdomens back and forth in unison in response to the hunting hornets. Abdomen-shaking is another fascinating defence, similar in some ways to the better-known ‘shimmering’ that giant honey bees Apis dorsata exhibit when hornets attack. In giant bees, a sequential lifting and lowering of the abdomen spreads rapidly among the bees on the surface of the open-air colony, creating mesmerizing ripples like a crowd doing the wave in a stadium. Shaking in the Asian honey bee is a side-to-side wiggle; shimmering is up and down. Both apparently serve as similar signals: these potential prey are indicating to a predator that “I see you and I can take care of myself.” An attack will be a waste of time and energy, and could seriously damage both parties. So, the bees shimmer and they shake and they bake. They also move. The most remarkable defence that I witnessed was a short, hopscotching flight that swarms performed to evade hornets. Under attack by either Vespa velutina or Vespa tropica, swarms took to the air and flew distances of between 20 and 90 metres, where they would once again settle on a tree branch and resume normal foraging activities. Though some hornets managed to move along with the bees, most were left behind on the branch just vacated by their quarry. Sometimes duped hornets remained clinging to the branch for a day or more, perhaps drawn by a chemical marker deposited by the bees. After several of these flights, the bees were finally able to settle on a branch, hornet-free at last. There they waited calmly while scout bees found new nesting cavities and returned to the swarm to direct it to a new fortress. Perhaps most intriguing about the elusive swarm flights is that I witnessed more than 40 different swarms
Spots of unidentified material placed by Apis cerana honey bees around the entrance to their nest Asian honey bees are quite passive. They do sting, but usually as a last defence after they have been threatened or provoked. As a first response to humans and other vertebrate intruders, they will retreat deeper into their fortress. Continued disturbance rouses the guards, and they emerge from the cavity to sting, producing alarm pheromones that recruit more defenders. The colony discourages not only attacking vertebrates, but most of the bees’ arthropod predators, which mainly include other social hymenopterans - ants and hornets. But several hornet species are problematic. They may attack bees head-on, overwhelm them with their crushing mandibles, and transport the dead bodies back to their paper nests to feed their growing larvae. They mark the entrance to a hive with a pheromone that attracts other hornets. Some, such as Vespa mandarinia in eastern Asia and Vespa tropica in south-east Asia, are big and strong. Vespa tropica is over 2.5 com long and Vespa mandarinia, 4
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performing them in the space of two months, and they occurred in the same small mango orchard where I discovered congregated bivouacs of giant honey bees during migration [“On the Stopovers of Giants,” Natural History, October 2014]. The following year, hornets were completely absent from the area due to heavy monsoons, and I witnessed no defensive swarming by Apis cerana. What is it about that orchard, that spot on the Earth, that draws swarms of one species of honey bee to rest and refuel as it undertakes long migrations, and swarms of another honey bee to select it as the place to stage
a defence that allows it to escape its most fearsome predators? I am curious to know. The bees have drawn me in. More information ROBINSON;W.S. (2013) Apis cerana swarms abscond to battle and elude hornets (Vespa spp) in northern Thailand. Journal of Apicultural Research 52(3): 160-172. DOI 10.3896/IBRA.1.52.3.08 Reproduced with thanks from Natural History, June 2016 © Natural History Magazine Inc 2016
Beekeeper training in Vietnam Photo © Gard W. Otis
Harvesting wild honey is a centuriesold tradition in south-east Asia. In Vietnam, as forest habitat for wild bees has diminished, the demand for premium ‘forest honey’ has exceeded supply, creating economic opportunities for beekeeping. In 1978, the Vietnam government began organising beekeeping programmes throughout the country to boost income for some of its poorest communities and to increase the honey supply for both domestic consumption and export. The National Apicultural Joint Stock Company began supplying beekeeping tools and materials to all the provincial companies. The training of beekeepers became primarily the responsibility of Vietnam’s internationally respected Bee Research and Development Centre (BRDC). BRDC understood bees and beekeeping very well, but they had no experience in participatory training techniques. They relied on “extended lectures that were not focused on the practical application of the knowledge, the needs and concerns of beekeepers, nor the ability to manage bee colonies,” according to a report by FAO. Recognising that more effective training methods were needed, Tam Quyet Dinh of BRDC and entomologist Gard Otis, a long-time friend of Dinh’s at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, gained funding through the Canadian International Development Agency (now part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development). A joint University of Guelph/BRDC training project began in 2007 in Ha Tinh Province, north-central Vietnam. The project had four objectives: to teach instructors to use participatory training techniques, to recognise beekeeping as a significant strategy to alleviate poverty, to have rural communities value bees as pollinators, and to promote gender equality. When the project ended in 2012, all four goals had been met to varying degrees, and there have been residual effects throughout Vietnam. According to a November 2012 evaluation report by John Devlin and Nonita Yap, both on the Faculty at the University of Guelph, experiential learning techniques have been used in beekeeping courses. One BRDC staff member offered the following reflection on the Ha Tinh programme: “Before the project, the teaching was about 80% theory and 20% practice, and there was no work with real bee hives. With
Bee Development and Research Centre trainer Dr. Chinh Huu Phung (right) teaches a Vietnam villager the technique for inspection and management of Apis cerana. this project, the teaching has been about 90% practice with bees and 10% theory. In addition, the theory is taught in the field if possible and not in the classroom.” BRDC staff improved their training skills as they taught Ha Tinh villagers the fundamentals of beekeeping. Some successes came early. During the first winter, project participants lost only 6% of their colonies, compared to 45% in the surrounding region. The difference resulted from their better understanding of hive management. One to three years after all training activities had ended, more than 90% of trainees were producing honey, a success rate much greater than is typically achieved in beekeeping training programmes. Income from bees and bee products typically increased by more than US$200 (€180) per trainee, which for poor Vietnamese farmers is significant. Of the 195 trainees, 70 were female. Many of them reported that because they earned income from the sale of their honey, their status with their husbands and within their community improved. When asked to list some of the benefits of beekeeping, almost all project participants (94%) noted the importance of increased family income, 83% indicated that it improved health, and 34% said that beekeeping increased respect in the community and among relatives. A few of the beekeepers trained by the project have since been elected to community leadership positions. To learn more about the project visit www.youtube.com/watch? v=44vn_jonGVg Beekeeper 5
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Support for beekeepers in Vietnam Beekeepers in the very poor Province of Ha Tinh experienced terrible floods in October and November 2016. Livestock of all types were lost (bees, cows, pigs, hens) and people’s homes greatly damaged. Bee hives were swept away. People in this Province rely on beekeeping as an important source of livelihood. In December 2016 Bees for Development launched an appeal to help to replace the bees and equipment destroyed by floods. Generous beekeepers around the world kindly donated, and in May we were able to send £12,500 (US$15,770; €14,190). This enabled our partner organisation, the Vietnam Bee Research and Development Centre (BRDC) to provide 250 Apis cerana colonies and equipment to beekeepers in two communities most badly affected by the floods.
Beekeepers received training in how to protect the bees and equipment if floods recur
Apis cerana colonies are secured for the motorbike journey to their new home
Unloading the hives with Apis cerana colonies
Delivery of the bees and equipment created great excitement in this remote and deprived area 6
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Stingless Bees Conference
Preparation of honey samples for NMR analysis, Application of Meliponitherapy, Innovations in wooden box hive construction, Innovations in honey suction pumps, Bee products developed for cosmeceuticals and pharmaceuticals and Using coconut shells as hives for stingless bees.
Launch
An International Meliponine Scientific Conference was successfully held in Selangor, Malaysia in May, organised by Akadeni Kelulut Malaysia, Malaysia Genome Institute, Institute Kajian Dasar and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Centre for Insect Systematics). The Co-ordinator was Abu Hassan Jalil, an advocate of stingless bee conservation and Mr Mohd Razif Mamat of the Genome Institute. Participants came from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Panama, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and USA.
Three books were launched: Handbook of Meliponiculture – Indo-Malayan Stingless Bees, a compendium of articles from over 40 contributors from more than 10 different countries (edited by Dr Roubik and Abu Hassan Jalil) with its translated Malay language version in three volumes, World Meliponine etymology of taxonomic nomenclature and Meliponine identifier pictorial guide – Indo-Malayan stingless bees.
Carnival The Carnival included an exhibition and sales expo with competitions for commercial bee products, box hive design and the highlight a Meliponine Honey Ranking Contest. Honey samples were submitted from three countries. The top ranked honey was a Lepidotrigona terminata sample and second a Tetragonula testaceitarsis sample, both from Thailand. The honey submissions were ranked according to aroma, colour and taste, an NMR analysis of constituents and overall packaged appearance.
Programme
Dr David Roubik lectured on How advances in stingless bee research may influence the Meliponine industry, Prof Dr Deborah Smith presented on What Melpioniculture culture can learn from Apiculture and Prof Dr Cleofas Cervancia on Proposed standards for tropical honey. Distinguished retired bee scientist, Dr Mercedes Delfinado-Baker was also present during the conference.
Posters The winning poster was Floral calendar for stingless bee, Tetragonula iridipennis Smith (Apidae, Meliponinae) in Peninsular India (B V Shweta, G C Kuberappa, R K Thakur and M S Reddy).
A Forum was held on the World of Meliponines, chaired by Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Makhdzir Mardan, with Prof Dr Mohd Mansor Ismail as Moderator with forum delegates Dr Roubik, Prof Dr Smith and Prof Dr Cervancia.
Closure The Conference ended after a series of public talks from several Malaysian government agencies on standards, restrictions and regulatory acts. Among these were the honey standards being prepared by MARDI, the good beekeeping standards (MYGAP) by the Department of Agriculture, labelling laws for honey packaging, Halal certification by JAKIM and the Wildlife Conservation Act by the Malaysian Wild Life Department to elaborate on the conservation of wild life predators to Meliponines.
Conference
Photos © Cleo Cervancia/Abu Hassan Jalil
Topics included pollination, biophysics, chemistry, meliponitheraphy, genomics, economics and engineering in meliponiculture. Workshops consisted of Identification of stingless bees using simple keys, Digital reconstruction of Meliponine anatomical parts, Methods of processing bee-bread and propolis,
Conference particpants
Professor Cleofas Cervancia, President Apimondia Regional Commission for Asia 7
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Money from honey on Mount Elgon, Uganda Mount Elgon straddles Uganda’s eastern border with Kenya. It is a remote and poor place, and life was made harder when hundreds of people where killed by severe landslides in 2010 and 2012. It is widely understood that the landslides were triggered by unusually heavy rain as a consequence of climate change, and years of deforestation of the mountain’s steep slopes exacerbated the situation. A local NGO, named Mbale Coalition Against Poverty (Mbale CAP) in response launched a tree-planting project, which received support from the Welsh Government. However, many concerns remained. Local people understand the importance of tree-planting, yet trees take time to mature, and farmers need immediate income to meet their daily needs. Bees for Development first visited the area in 2013 to consider options for beekeeping development and began working with Mbale CAP to help farmers to integrate beekeeping into their tree and coffee plots. We immediately recognised the potential of the area: bees, flowering plants and materials to make low-cost beehives are readily available. We identified people with good beekeeping skills and trained them further to take on the role of Community-Based Beekeeper Trainers (CBBTs), and we provided possibilities for them to train other people in their communities. This approach has been hugely successful and has generated significant multiplier effects.
In 2013 Bees for Development held a meeting at the premises of the local coffee cooperative. Patrick Wakuma was not invited to the meeting, but he happened to be passing and realised that visitors were talking about bees, so he stood to one side and listened. After the meeting he asked to participate in future training and was invited to do so. Since then he has never looked back. He now places his beehives throughout his coffee plot, one by one. He does not place them in a single location in one apiary because he knows that the bees will reach more coffee plants this way. Since he began beekeeping he has noticed that his coffee yields have increased from 15 bags a year to about 25 bags. Before taking surplus honey to town to sell, he makes sure his children eat honey at least once a week to stay healthy. He explains, “I have always known bees, but I did not know you could make business from bees!”
The Project has encouraged women to become involved in beekeeping and in Bududa Ms Robinah Nandudu, the local CBBT, has been eager to learn from more experienced beekeepers. The Uganda Wildlife Authority has given permission for beekeepers from Elgon Farmers Associations to establish four apiaries inside Mount Elgon National Park. This collaborative arrangement means that instead of being excluded with no gain, local people can benefit from the National Park. Local CBBT Sam Kusolo explains that bees within the Park are not disturbed by people, livestock or pesticides.
Elizabeth Nakuti is the daughter of Peter Gimaswa, one of the CBBTs. Elizabeth is learning all aspects of beekeeping from her father and is keen to help him. She appreciates the value of beekeeping because she and her brothers enjoy eating honey, but primarily because she understands that honey sales pay for her school books and education “I thank bees for my school fees!”, says Elizabeth. 8
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raising tree seedlings. Species such as Calliandra calothyrsus, Croton macrostachyus, Cordia africana and Grevillea robusta provide excellent bee forage and are planted widely by farmers. There has been a significant increase in interest in tree-planting across the Mbale area, and Mbale CAP now find the demand for tree seedlings is greater than they are able to supply.
These beehives are made from Eucalyptus timber offcuts and sell for a little over US$7 each. The Project has generated an increased demand for beehives and therefore good economic benefit for hive makers. Craftsmen and women make also woven and clay hives. Interestingly a local historian, Julius Namisano, identified a type of clay cylinder hive made by youth in Burukuru. Called the Masaaba Eco-beehive Julius and Mbale CAP are now testing this hive more widely, it costs about US$6.
A key part of the Project approach has been to build a culture of learning and sharing amongst the CBBTs. Workshops were held every three months where all CBBTs could discuss their experiences and challenges and learn new skills. Many issues were discussed such as how to achieve good hive colonisation rates, honey prices, who was buying and selling beeswax, the optimum number of colonies to keep in one apiary, and the best types of bee forage. This approach to continuing learning is one of the factors which has made this Project so successful.
One of the most successful aspects of the Project has been the promotion of many different styles of beehives – depending on local skills, materials and available budget. Top-bar hives are popular however at about US$30, are too expensive for some people. There is some willingness from government departments to donate top-bar hives to farmers but as one District officer freely admits, “Donated equipment without adequate training achieves little.We have no beekeeping extension staff in the rural areas. The CBBTs are helping us in every way”.
CBBTs were asked to monitor the progress of the farmers they were mentoring. This involved recording how the new beekeepers developed their beekeeping skills (after one year 65% of trainees could harvest honey without help), recording their honey sales (average 13 kg per new beekeeper per year) and income earned. CBBTs also noted how new beekeepers used the income they earned from honey selling. In this image we see Sunu Women’s Group demonstrating how they run their group savings scheme, putting in money from selling honey and borrowing money for household and business purposes. Acknowledgements We thank Hub Cymru Africa and Charles Hayward Foundation for funding this Project. We acknowledge the work of Mbale CAP Coordinator Mr Rogers Wasibi whose dedication has enabled significant improvement through beekeeping to the lives of farmers in the Mount Elgon area.
Mbale CAP continues to promote tree-planting and has now set a new target of planting 10 Million Trees by 2019. Tree nursery managers have been trained in all aspects of 9
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NOTICE BOARD AWARD Groups of beekeepers are invited to apply for Vita’s 2017 award for honey bee health initiatives. The Award highlights the vital work of voluntary beekeeping groups to combat the health threats to honey bees. Closing date 31 July 2017. See www.vitaeurope.com/
AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL The oldest English language beekeeping publication in the world. See a digital copy and subscribe at www.americanbeejournal.com BEE CRAFT UK Beekeeping Journal for beginners and seasoned apiarists. View a digital copy and subscribe on line at www.bee-craft.com
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
BEE CULTURE The magazine of American beekeeping. 140 years’ experience. Today’s techniques. Tomorrow’s ideas. US$15 for a digital subscription. See www.BeeCulture. com ULUDAG BEE JOURNAL News, practical information and research articles. Published quarterly in Turkish with English summaries. See www.uludagaricilik.org
TRAINING GRANT Conservation Workshop Grants fund organisations to train communities, stakeholders, park guards, and others on local and regional conservation issues. These grants support training workshops with hands-on learning components that will build capacity for people living in WWF priority places in select countries in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. Organisations must meet all the eligibility criteria to be considered for a grant of up to US$7,500. See www.worldwildlife.org/projects/ conservation-workshop-grants
ADVERTISE IN BfDJ A great opportunity to reach thousands of our readers. Various size ad’s available. Contact info@beesfordevelopment.org
Funding Opportunity
SEED FUND SEARCA provides start-up funds to researchers who can make significant contributions to the development of the region but lack funding to carry out projects. Proponents should be Southeast Asian nationals and graduates of at least a four-year degree course. Submission by 1 August every year to www. searca.org/scholarship/seed-fund-researchtraining
The Rome 1% Fund offers grants of up to US$ 5,000 (€4,500) for small-scale beekeeping projects, and is making a call for proposals from community groups in the following regions: the Caribbean, Latin America, and south-west Pacific. Applications can be made online at www.one-percent-fund.net
HOTSPOT Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot Call. Small grants (maximum US$10,000) in Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe applications only accepted upon invitation. To discuss your project idea with one of our team members first write to cepf-eam-rit@birdlife.org
Stephen Dowd, Secretary, Rome 1% Fund
TECA FAO discussions teca.fao.org
SIMPLIFIED METHODS FOR DIAGNOSING BEE DISEASES 3 July – 7 August 2017
AWARD A professional development programme that strengthens the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. See www.awardfellowships.org
WAYS TO PAY
Moderated by Giovanni Formato, Head of the Beekeeping Laboratory, at the Instituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale (Regional Institute for Animal Diseases) Latium and Tuscany, Italy
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Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
News
€3,500) from the 1% for Development Fund, Geneva (Switzerland) for construction of a Beekeeping Resource Centre.
KENYA
The Centre will be based in Zamfarawa at Hayin Gada Village, Shika. The establishment of the Centre will enable 4,000 people to benefit from free access to beekeeping equipment, information and training and a honey production demonstration farm. Beneficiaries will include children, women and young people from local community projects: students of the Faculty of Agriculture and College of Agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, the Institute of Agricultural Research, Kaduna State Agricultural Development Project, and a host of others.
Training for beginners Evergreen Plains Farm is an oasis of lemongrass, papaya and Moringa trees thriving on the otherwise dry black cotton Kano plains, a 45-minute drive from Kisumu City. The three-day course was held in December with seven participants from neighbouring communities Nakuru and Nairobi. The first day began with an introduction to the global history of bees and beekeeping followed by Kenya’s beekeeping history.
We are seeking your support to provide resources and literature to be kept at the Centre.
A much-appreciated tasting of stingless bee honey, a bee venom and honey mix and a honey/propolis mix preceded the afternoon practical session making a selection of value added products including a coconut and beeswax body butter, lip balm, beeswax candles and a fantastic honey cerate (balm) following guidance from Dr Sara Robb’s articles in BfD Journals.
Idris Muhammad Barau, Project Director A Bees for Development Resource Box is on its way to the Centre
NIGERIA Photos © Jorafarm
Day 2 covered honey and beeswax processing, apiary and colony management and honey bee pests and diseases. The practical session was preparing and baiting four new hives, putting together the new extractor machine and cleaning a recently absconded hive infested with wax moth. That evening saw a further practical session in the farm apiary where the group put on four honey supers and cleaned out another hive that had a small infestation of wax moth - unfortunately due to the timing of the main flowering season there was not a drop of honeycomb in sight. On Day 3 the group made a beeswax based perfume using flower essence before the course closed with a question and answer session and several short BBC documentaries.
Participants of a recent Jorafarm seminar One of our regular activities is organising free workshops for young people to learn practical beekeeping. We distribute resource materials donated by Bees for Development. During this year’s honey harvest we discovered that almost all the honey was already crystallised. We were surprised at this but upon completing a survey among other beekeepers in the area we heard that the situation was the same across the whole of the south-western Nigeria. A challenge we face is convincing our customers that our honey is pure and not adulterated. Many consumers in Nigeria are not aware that honey granulates. Therefore we are working on an awareness campaign to educate consumers about this important fact to gain their confidence and ensure regular sales. We noticed also that a heatwave across the country had led to the stream that runs close to our apiary being totally dried up. Are these events because of climate change? We are planning to set up a Beekeeping Centre in Akiriboto village in Gbongan with the aim of training young people and women in beekeeping. We chose this venue to get closer to our target audience in rural areas and we are seeking support for the Centre. We really appreciate the support of Bees for Development.
Jess de Boer, EverGreen Plains Farm
KENYA Thank you for sending me the BfD Beekeeping and Development Guides 1-4*. While visiting a friend, 400 km from my locality, I interacted with a group of beekeepers at a rural village in Uasingishu County, Eldoret. Though I am not yet an expert in beekeeping, I realised they were not using the right methods. I shared the knowledge I have acquired from BfD Journal and I was elated when the group became enthusiastic and would have liked me to stay longer to tell them more. I promised them I would look at facilitating some beekeeping resources and Bees for Development has agreed to provide a sponsored Resource Box which will be of great help to them. Thank you. Kariuki Waweru, Ntashart Eco Green *See page 20 or our website for how to apply for Resource Boxes and the Beekeeping Enterprise Guides
NIGERIA The Beekeeping Extension Society in Kaduna State, Nigeria has received a grant of N2,068,900 (US$4,000;
Ayoade A Akande, Jorafarm and Associates 11
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
ZIMBABWE
great fun at finding out who passes muster with the bees – I run a construction company and we all start out from my house every morning.
I caught four swarms on my property in August and September and struggled to build hives fast enough to accommodate them when they were ready to be moved out of the catch hives. I now have five colonies: three in hives on my property and two elsewhere. I have learned much and we have already had a modest harvest of honey from my first hive that was occupied in April 2016 and is doing very well. After trying the Warré People’s hive I have decided to standardise on top-bar hives. The Warré hive is not unsuccessful but the bees build up very fast. As you can see from the image the hive is already four boxes high. I built frames to fit in to my hive which is built to the standard dimensions. The bees here like to apply propolis so this is another factor to consider as it can make the removal of top-bars and frames difficult.
I am still learning and have recently assembled a Flow hive (see BfD Journal 122) for a friend: we will be evaluating its performance with our bees soon – this will be very interesting. Bee hives in southern Africa are often invaded by tiny black ants, and by what we call ‘run around’ red ants (for obvious reasons). That is why our bees love co-habiting with termites in hollow trees as the termites do not bother the bees living higher up and provide protection from the ground based ants. As you can see from the pictures of my hives we must provide our hives with good protection from both ants and Agama (African Rock Lizards). We planted some sunflowers in spring from bird seed obtained from the local pet shop: these have been a big hit with both honey bees and stingless bees.
Photos © Jonathan Vincent
The huge Queen of the Night cactus can be heard buzzing with thousands of bees at sunrise and sunset from our door step. I like to tell people it is the largest in the area! The bees have access only in early morning and late afternoon as the flowers close during the heat of the day. The flowers of the cactus do not have a strong scent but they are very rich in nectar. They are also visited by bats during the night. Jonathan Vincent, Bulawayo
I have built the hives with a ventilated roof as temperatures often exceed 34°C. The bees approve and are doing well: the roof overhang and sloped entrances are essential to keep the torrential rain we receive here from getting into the hives. Our bees are Apis mellifera scutellata and are defensive – I can only work on my hives after dark but I am improving in speed and techniques. One of the most fundamental things I have learned with our bees is that that it is all about the scent. They are very sensitive to the odours of any living thing around the hives. If you do not smell nice you will be vanquished immediately. This has been a great source of amusement to my employees who have 12
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
ZIMBABWE Appeal
I am contacting you on behalf of the beekeepers of Kutsungirira Beekeeping Society (KBS) in Mwenezi District, Masvingo Province. KBS has a long-standing relationship with Bees for Development including sponsored subscriptions to BfD Journal and several Resource Boxes. Since 2001 KBS has trained over 600 women, men and children in Mwenezi and neighbouring districts. The area was severely affected by continuous heavy rain and floods in addition to Cyclone Dineo in January to March: these were disastrous for the infrastructure and livestock, including apiaries. Photos © KBS
Ellen Michaelis, Bee Support, Netherlands The bees must go deep into the tubular stem of the flower to retrieve the nectar. This type of cactus flowers intermittently over the late winter and early spring (August–October) so provided conditions are good it offers a continuous supply of nectar.
Hives, bee houses, forage and shade for bees were all destroyed by the floods ‘Kutsungirira’ means ‘to persevere in difficult times’, something we have had to do for many years. During our tour of Chikandiwa and Chinyani areas we met 11 beekeepers who lost 60 top-bar hives, 30 log hives, 15 trap boxes 2 bee houses and much bee shade. We have been unable to visit all the affected beekeepers because of limited financial resources The beekeeping clubs had apiaries alongside the Runde river which burst its banks and destroyed all the trees that had grown there for years. Kafinos Chikandiwa, one of the lead farmers, expressed concern over the losses. During our discussions, he pointed out that beekeeping is a livelihood for many people who sited apiaries by the river as it provided water and natural vegetation for bees. For example, between April and June 2016, the area harvested 850 kg of honey which was sold through KBS.
A top-bar bait hive, known here as a catch hive, with the bees moving in. The catch hive made from gypsum board off-cuts, fibre glass cloth and resin (outside only) – bees love plaster board!
During the bad weather, our beekeeping courses were postponed and rescheduled for April. The two communities lost four gardens which provided vegetables and tomatoes for consumption and sale. Chingami, Chagweva and Chiduvura bridges were swept away and the links for the beekeepers to the Honey Shop destroyed. Currently beekeepers must travel much longer routes to sell bee products and vegetables. We are thinking of ways to help the beekeepers affected to reconstruct their lost apiaries, and infrastructure to recover their livelihoods. The District Development Fund states that US$14 (€12) million is required for the rehabilitation of the damaged infrastructure in Masvingo Province (ZBC News Online, 22 February 2017) Michael Hlungwani, KBS Hives require good protection from ants and Agama (African Rock Lizards)
If anyone would like to assist, financially and/or actively, please get in contact with KBS via BfD 13
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Wild honey harvest Catriona Croft-Cusworth, CIFOR, Indonesia Additional contributors: Yeni F Nomeni, Melki Fobia, Novemris Tefa and Oktofianus Tanesi of the Olin-Fobia community
An ancient tradition
The Kanoppi Research Project in West Timor, Indonesia is a combined effort between the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). It has found that customary laws surrounding the harvesting of wild honey by the local Mutis-Timau community are having a strong impact on forest protection, at least equal to the national and provincial laws.
Harvesting honey is a sacred business for the OlinFobia Community combining indigenous and religious rituals. The traditional custodians live a two-day journey from the forest where they collect the honey. When the blossoms of Eucalyptus alba appear, preparations begin for a two or three-week camp. Food and shelter must be prepared for the journey, and personal conflicts are expected to be resolved before departure, ensuring social harmony among the community. Camp is set up at the place considered to be the ‘gateway’ of the harvest area, and religious prayers are performed.
Every year the traditional custodians of the Mount Mutis Nature Reserve travel back to their ancestral lands for an important cultural ritual – the harvesting of wild honey.
At nightfall, a group of people head out to the harvest location. Led by the Amaf (Community Leader), the group includes individuals with the technical and spiritual knowledge to safely collect the honey. The dangerous task involves climbing to branches 80 m above ground, where colonies hang from the towering trees. An older tree can host as many as 120 colonies.
The annual honey harvest is not only important for the continuation of an ancient tradition: it is an important contributor to social harmony, livelihoods and the preservation of the nature reserve as instructed by national law. According to scientist Ani Adiwinata Nawir: “It is a success story for community-based landscape management and how it can contribute to forest conservation.”
One person, the Meo One, makes the climb while another, the Meo Menesat, sings below, flattering the giant honey bees (Apis dorsata) by calling them ‘beautiful forest princesses’, and asking permission to take their honey. “They consider the bees as their partners in the harvest,” says Ani Adiwinata Nawir, Kanoppi’s Co-ordinator for Policy Research at CIFOR.
As a non-timber forest product (NTFP), Mount Mutis honey provides supplementary income for its harvesters’ livelihoods. And because honey production relies on a healthy forest environment, there is an extra economic incentive to ensure protection of the ecosystem it depends upon.
Using fire and smoke to repel the bees, the harvesters slice the honeycomb from the tree, bringing it back to
Photos © Nanang Sujana/CIFOR
Isak Fobia, leader of the Olin-Fobia community. He is responsible for guiding the honey harvesting ceremony from the beginning to the end, and for dividing the harvest among the community
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Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
of the entire ecosystem, there is an additional incentive for the community to preserve it for generations to come.
Local law, national law Overlapping laws and regulations from the central, provincial and district governments determine the types of forest product uses allowed in the area. However, the research has found that local people are generally unaware of these rules and how they apply to the forest products that their livelihoods depend upon. Nonetheless, customary laws are inadvertently delivering on national laws by regulating access to, and use of, protected forest. Kanoppi’s research has found that the traditions surrounding the honey harvest may be among the most sustainable and effective governance measures now protecting the national nature reserve.
The whole community joins the journey to the harvest location, and the rewards are shared equally among them
At other times of the year, nearby communities collect honey made from the blossoms of Eucalyptus urophylla, known locally as the ampupu tree. But Eucalyptus alba honey harvest is reserved for the Olin-Fobia community. Mutual respect among communities in the Mutis-Timau landscape for traditions regarding forest governance, and shared interest in the continuation of those traditions, are in effect fulfilling national policies on forest protection.
share equally among the community, as determined by the Amaf.
A sustainable product There is usually enough honey from the harvest for the community to use for their own purposes, and to sell outside the area. Up to 30 tonnes is harvested in Mount Mutis annually, accounting for 25% of total production in the province of East Nusa Tenggara.
The project’s recommendation to support the honey harvest tradition has already been adopted in the district government’s strategy on landscape-level integrated management of NTFPs, as a reference for local government agencies.
The World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia (WWF Indonesia) is working together with the community-run Mutis Community Network (JMM) to brand and package the product for better market impact. The initiative is part of WWF Indonesia’s Green and Fair Products campaign, which promotes the development of sustainable products sold at a fair price.
Ani Adiwinata Nawir says that the success of the project suggests great potential for customary laws in sustainable natural resource management. It also suggests that better participation is needed by local people in creating the laws that affect them and their livelihoods.
The honey is now sold as Mount Mutis honey, and exported mainly to Java, Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia. The commercial success story is good news for Kanoppi’s research into NTFPs and the multiple benefits they can bring poor communities. The sale of honey brings additional income for the whole community. Since it does not involve cutting down trees, the harvest has a low impact on the protected Mount Mutis Nature Reserve. And because the continued production of honey relies on the health
Kanoppi is supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and implemented in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia (WWF Indonesia) and a locally established policy working group. First published in CIFOR’s Newsletter Forests News, October 2016 www. cifor.org/blog/wildhoney-harvest/
The unusual sight of a honey harvester working by day. A single tree can host more than 100 colonies 15
The honeycombs are usually harvested at night, using fire to drive away the honey bees Apis dorsata
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Locally certified organic beekeeping in Mwingi, Kenya Peter Musinguzi, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Introduction
Organic Co-operative (MOC). In this study we aimed to understand the impact of organic certification upon livelihoods. A comparison was made between the situation in 2008 and in 2015, and between beekeepers whose practices were organic certified and those who were not. A total 303 households (185 certified and 118 noncertified) were randomly sampled from 54 beekeepers’ groups between December 2015 and February 2016. A household questionnaire was used to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Data from 2008, collected in 2015, was based on recall and records. Key informant interviews, informal conversations, participant observation, participatory rural appraisal and secondary data also informed the research.
Governments and NGOs acknowledge that beekeeping supports rural livelihoods in Africa. It is associated with forest conservation, and agencies have promoted it with the twin objectives of improving livelihoods, while conserving forests. Honey can be produced in ways that are beneficial for forests and the environment, and one way to capitalise on this link is to seek organic certification. There are gaps in our understanding of how poor communities can benefit from organic certification, and we therefore studied the impact of local organic certification of honey production upon the livelihoods of beekeepers in Kenya. Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) form 80% of the country and produce approximately 80% of the country’s honey. The ASAL are home to about 90% of Kenya’s forest resources.
Key results The study looked at metrics including honey price, quantities sold, trading channels used, profit margins and overall household income. Table 1 shows number of beekeepers selling into different market channels and the quantities sold. Across both certified and non-certified beekeepers, honey trade doubled from 6,258kg in 2008 to 12,738kg in 2015. While the non-certified beekeepers more than doubled their cumulative sales (over 100%), the increase in sales by certified beekeepers was slightly less, an increase of 92%. The proportion of certified producers who sold through MOC fell between 2008
Case study and research question This study focusses on beekeeping and honey selling in Mwingi, eastern Kenya, where beekeeping has long formed a part of mixed farming and livestock livelihoods. In 2002 a range of development interventions were implemented to support beekeepers. One intervention established a marketing group called Mwingi Market Place (MMP) and beekeepers were trained in organic apiculture. Subsequently, MMP was formalised into Mwingi
Table 1. Market channels used by beekeepers for honey trade and quantities of honey Market channel used for honey trade
Non-certified beekeepers N=118 Frequency
%
Certified beekeepers N=185
Kg honey sold Frequency
%
Kg honey sold
2008 Mwingi Organic Co-operative
31
26.26
166
64
34.59
566
Brokers
65
55.08
1,680
87
47.03
2,465
3
2.54
50
6
3.24
310
Individual honey processors Consumers Honey consumed at home, not sold Totals
1
0.85
10
4
2.16
106
18
15.25
435
24
12.97
470
118
100
2,341
185
100
3,917
2
1.69
44
31
16.67
932
2015 Mwingi Organic Co-operative Brokers
105
88.98
4,346
132
71.35
5,296
Individual honey processors
3
2.54
326
5
2.7
647
Consumers
0
0
0
3
1.62
25
Honey consumed at home, not sold
8
6.78
507
14
7.57
615
118
100
5,223
185
100
7,515
Totals
16
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
and 2015, from 34.6% to 16.8%. The non-certified beekeepers sold very little to MOC in 2015. This not surprising as MOC is mandated to purchase only certified organic honey. Yet interviews with key informants revealed that in 2015 the MOC resorted to the purchase of non-organic certified honey from a honey broker in Kitui.
Another key result is impact on household income. Both groups reported that their beekeeping income and overall household income had increased between 2008 and 2015, but there was no significant difference between certified and non-certified households. This quantitative data was backed up by the views of the organic certified beekeepers, 83% of whom perceived that they were no better off because of certification.
Table 2. Honey prices secured by beekeepers selling to different market channels Market channel
Certified honey N=161
Mwingi Organic Co-operative
1.13
1.13
Brokers
1.14
1.02
Individual honey processors
N/A
1.02
Consumers
0.48
1.77
N=110
N=171
Mwingi Organic Co-operative
2.84
2.84
Brokers
2.71
2.69
Individual honey processors
2.27
3.41
Consumers
N/A
3.41
2015
Since 2008 volume of honey trade and prices have both increased. This suggests substantial progress. It is difficult to attribute this change to the introduction of organic certification processes only because beekeepers who are selling organic honey are not earning more than those who are selling non-organic honey. Furthermore, MOC – the institution established to provide a route to market for organic honey - is not the preferred marketing channel for beekeepers in the area, and MOC appears to be trading also in non-organic honey. However, it is possible that the intervention to support organic certification in Mwingi may indirectly be responsible for some of the positive trends. It is possible that the organic certification programme drew attention to the quality and availability of honey in Mwingi, and perhaps this attracted new interest from buyers and brokers which increased trade opportunities for all beekeepers. The results show that beekeepers have very clear preferences in terms of how they rate market conditions. Low transport costs to market and cash terms of payment are very important for all beekeepers. Price is not always the main factor.
Median price of honey in US$ per kg Non-certified honey N=100
2008
Discussion
In addition to the increase in volume of trade between 2008 and 2015, the honey price also increased – more than doubling in most marketing channels. As shown in Table 2, MOC was offering a slightly higher price than brokers in 2015, yet as we have seen in Table 1 most beekeepers were opting to sell to brokers. Why? Beekeepers explained that the most important factors to them were receiving cash payment and having low transport costs to market. Some beekeepers said they had experienced delayed payments from MOC. MOC did not own or hire any transport to facilitate honey purchase from the beekeepers’ farm gate, or from centres near their homes, obliging beekeepers to bear the cost of transport. This was reported as another important reason for choice of market channel. Contrary to expectation, beekeepers do not routinely earn a higher price for organic-certified honey, and certified honey fetches a higher price only when beekeepers sell to individual processors and consumers. Yet as Table 1 shows, such sales are infrequent. Furthermore, beekeepers reported that the costs of producing organic-certified honey were higher than non-certified honey. In 2015 certified beekeepers spent more time engaged in activities such as apiary cleaning, hive transportation, hanging, purchasing, baiting, watering and inspection as compared to non-certified beekeepers, and organic certified beekeepers thus had higher production costs. The costs of production incurred by both organic and non-organic beekeepers were calculated. The results indicated that the gross profit margin on each kg of honey produced by organic beekeepers was US$0.80, while for nonorganic beekeepers the gross profit margin was US$0.85 per kg. This suggests that organic certification was not always more profitable.
Way forward
To offer a worthwhile route to market for organic honey, MOC requires revitalisation. This process should include training of leaders, members and staff in co-operative management and business skills. Increasing accountability to members is also important because MOC must access sufficient working capital to pay beekeepers cash during the harvesting season. Otherwise beekeepers will continue to sell their honey to brokers - even if it means selling at a lower price. Even if MOC is re-vitalised, this does not address the issue that beekeeping following organic procedures is less profitable than non-organic beekeeping. There could be several reasons for this. It is possible that despite an apparent demand for organic produce amongst the middle and upper-class income groups in Kenya, consumers are still unwilling to pay more. Another underlying issue could be awareness by buyers and consumers that honey purchased from non-certified beekeepers shares similar quality parameters to honey purchased from certified beekeepers. Footnote All prices were converted into US$ using the average currency exchange rates of KES87.92 and KES69.18 in 2008 and 2015. The inflation rates for 2015 (8.01%) and 2008 (27.70%) were taken into consideration to have accurate income figures for comparability purposes. For details about data analysis, and to consult all results, access the full report on Bees for Development website or contact the author. US$1.00 = €0.89 (June 2017) 17
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
BOOKSHELF Vanishing bees – science, politics and honeybee health Sainath Suryanarayanan and Daniel Lee Kleinman, 159 pages softcover. Rutgers University Press This is a stimulating discussion around bee biology and human society that seeks to unravel the debate concerning the decline in honey bees. Many views and explanations exist, but why is some expertise regarded as legitimate while the knowledge claims of other stakeholders are ignored? Honey bees face complex interplay between many different factors including habitat loss, nutritional stress and agrochemicals. The established scientific way to research a problem is by reductive approaches that control individual variables to produce results with high levels of certainty. Yet this approach does not suit the highly complex real world where outcomes for honey bees are the result of multitudes of interactions, direct and indirect effects. If you dare to express an opinion on why honey bees are declining, then read this book and check out your perspective!
Bee Quest
Dave Goulson, 233 pages, hardcover. £16.99 from Bees for Development Everyone who loves bees will love this book. It is highly readable and engaging, as Dave Goulson explains what is happening to bumble bee populations across the world. He describes his journeys to north and south America, as well as nearer to home in the UK. It is shocking to realise that bumblebee populations are becoming extinct, almost without us noticing. One example is the recent, rapid decline of the world’s largest bumblebee species Bombus dahlbomii, the only indigenous bumblebee of southern Argentina and Chile, whose territory is now filled by European buff-tailed bumblebees. The book provides a compelling call to action for everyone to regreen our urban areas and find room for wildlife to persist. Do read it and be well informed about the bumblebee crisis.
Solitary bees
Ted Benton, 202 pages softcover. Pelagic Publishing We describe honey bees and bumblebees as social bees because they live in complex families. Here in the UK there are around 250 species of solitary bees, i.e. more than ten times the number of social bee species. Yet far less is known about these solitary bees, and few people can identify these bees which are also important pollinators. Solitary bees differ from social bees in not having non-reproductive worker bees. Instead, each female makes a nest, lays eggs, and provisions the nest with food for her offspring. This excellent new Naturalist Handbook provides a way for the interested amateur to begin identifying at least some of these bees.
Honey-maker: how the honey bee worker does what she does
Rosanna L Mattingly, 215 pages softcover. Beargrass Press Are honey bees one of the most amazing species on this planet, or is it just that we know so much more about them than we do other species? This is another excellent new bee book, all about worker honey bees, explaining in a readable and understandable way, exactly how worker bees achieve their different tasks. The author discusses the physical structure of the bee, and how this form fits its purpose. For example, how does a honey bee keep herself clean? This is a sticky proposition! The answer is that she moistens hairs on her foreleg and uses it to clean her head and front part of her thorax. To clean her antenna, she raises her foreleg and draws the antenna through a tiny notch fitted with a comb. Explanations like this are accompanied by dozens of detailed photographs and diagrams, creating an interesting, reliable and highly educational new book about bees.
The book of bees
Piotr Socha (translated from the Polish by Agnes Monod-Gayraud), 72 pages, hardcover. £16.95 from Bees for Development Illustrator Piotr Socha has created a marvellous, unique picture book about beekeeping that delights everyone who sees it. It is A3 size and consists of double page illustrations featuring different aspects of bee history and culture, as well as honey bee biology, pollination and much else. Lots of bee education and fun, beautifully delivered. 18
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
LOOK AHEAD GUATEMALA
Mesoamerican Congress on Native Bees 20-24 November 2017, Antigua Further details melipoguate@gmail.com
IRELAND
Gormanston 2017 Annual Beekeeping Summer Course 30 July – 4 August 2017 Further details www.irishbeekeeping.ie
KENYA
Certificate course: Entrepreneur in apiculture in East Africa – Baraka Agricultural College, Molo Further details www.sustainableagri.org
NIGERIA
6th ApiExpo Africa 2018, Abuja Further details www.apitradeafrica.org
NORWAY
31st Annual Meeting – Scandinavian Pollination Ecologists (SCAPE 2017) 26-29 October 2017, Drøbak Further details www.uio.no/english/
TANZANIA
BSc Beekeeping Science & Technology University of Dar es Salaam Further details www.coasft.udsm.ac.tz
TURKEY
APIMONDIA: 45th International Apicultural Congress 29 September – 4 October 2017, Istanbul Further details www.apimondia2017.org
UK
Scottish Beekeepers Convention 8-10 September 2017, Ayr Racecourse Further details www.sbaconvention.co.uk Conwy Honey Fair 13 September 2017, North Wales Further details www.conwybeekeepers.org.uk National Honey Show 26-29 October 2017, Sandown Park Further details www.honeyshow.co.uk
Bottlingtanks Made of high quality stainless steel. All tanks come with a loose-fitting lid or with an airtight lid as an option. Capacity from 25 kg - 600 kg.
Solar Wax Melter For frames or comb. It has a strong wooden frame, insulating double window and a small tray for collecting the melted wax / honey.
Refractometer Measures water content in honey. Range: 12-25%. With automatic temperature compensation.
Honey Press Easy and effective way to press your honey. Made entirely of stainless steel. Holds approx. 9.5 L.
Honey Extractors Our modern tangential manual extractors. High quality machines at a very affordable price.
Packaging Many different sizes and shapes in both PET plastic and glas. Available with plastic and metal lids.
BEES for DEVELOPMENT EVENTS
BEES for DEVELOPMENT QUIZ with Patrons Tom Seeley and Bill Turnbull 28 October 2017, UK National Honey Show, Sandown Park Further details www.beesfordevelopment.org
BfD COURSES
Weaving wicker skeps 24 June 2017, Peterstow Making straw skeps 22 July 2017 Ragman’s Lane Permaculture Farm Sustainable beekeeping 23-24 September 2017 Ragman’s Lane Permaculture Farm Treatment free beekeeping in horizontal hives – Leo Sharashkin 11-12 November 2017 Ragman’s Lane Permaculture Farm Further details www.beesfordevelopment.org
at Available om ienty.c www.sw ... for better honey
Swienty A/S
If you want notice of your conference, workshop or meeting to be included here and on our website, send details to Bees for Development.
19
Hørtoftvej 16, Ragebøl DK-6400 Sønderborg Tel. +45 74 48 69 69
www.swienty.com Fax + 45 74 48 80 01 shop@swienty.com
Bees for Development Journal 123 July 2017
Bees for Development Trust raises the funds we need to undertake our work 45th Apimondia International Congress 29 Sep – 4 Oct 2017 Istanbul, TURKEY
PROTECTING BEES & POLLINATORS TEACHING SUSTAINABLE LIFE SKILLS CHAMPIONING BIODIVERSITY
WORKING TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY FACILITIATING FAIR MARKET ACCESS SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
If you share our passion for protecting bees and pollinators, and working to alleviate poverty in some of the world’s poorest regions, you can help us by
Making a regular donation Subscribing to BfD Journal Sponsoring a Journal subscription Sponsoring a Teaching Resource Box Please give us your support at:
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SUPPORT FOR TRAINING BfD Training Booklets and Training Cards are for use by beekeeper trainers in Africa Each booklet provides one day of training on one topic. The cards provide pictures and plans illustrating techniques discussed in the booklets. These are included in our Resource Boxes for training events and workshops. Projects and associations in developing countries are welcome to apply for a Sponsored Resource Box by filling out an application form on our website, or request the form by email. Projects in other areas can purchase Resource Boxes through our website store.
www.beesfordevelopment.org
SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE This Journal is available for resource-poor beekeepers, projects, schools and groups in developing countries Supported with funds raised by Bees for Development Trust Name................................................................................................. What is your involvement with bees and beekeeping? ......................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................... Organisation ..................................................................................... Postal address................................................................................... ......................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................... Country............................................................................................. E-mail address................................................................................... Date of application............................................................................. Additional copies of this form are available from our website Email journalrequest@beesfordevelopment.org Post to BfD Trust at the address below
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